Perseus Jackson and the Bolt of Zeus
by seagurl3
Summary: First book of the Son of Love series/ Percy Jackson's life gets turned upside after an attack at his school that lead to him questioning who his father really is. After loosing his mother to a Minotaur attack, he's set on a long winding road to retrieve the bolt that belonged to the King of the gods. Along side a daughter of Athena and a satyr, Percy wonders: Is this real? SoS soon
1. I murder a demon teacher

Look, I didn't ask to be like this.

I didn't walk into Wal-Mart and buy what kind of life I wanted. I wish it worked like that.

It doesn't.

If you're reading this because you think it's some fantasy world made up in the mind of an author: good. Don't believe in a word I say.

But, if you feel something inside you wake up… Run.

Run far away from this book and don't turn back. Believe whatever your mom or dad told you about your birth. Believe them when they say your other parent, the one you never met, is dead or left. It's only a matter of time before they feel it too, and then you are a fugitive, on the run forever.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Ȣ

My name is Percy Jackson, and my life is an _absolute_ trainwreck.

Sure, I could start anywhere in my life to prove it: the fact my father had left me and my mom behind to fend for ourselves, the bottomless list of school's I've been to, the weird things that happen in my life…

But, it all went downhill a few months before I turned 13, back at Yancy Academy for Troubled Students.

Am I troubled?

Apparently so.

In all honesty, most things that happen to me wasn't all _my_ fault, but of course the blame gets put on me, so…

It was a cool May morning, which would have looked nice if I wasn't on a neon yellow school bus with 50 other kids that were also troubled. And, above it all, I was sitting right behind my arch nemesis – Nancy Bobofit.

Bobofit was this midget of a girl with a temper as fiery as her hair. She had bright orange freckles dotting her cheekbones and nose, papery-white skin, crooked yellow-and-brown teeth, and the sickliest green-brown eyes to ever exist. On top of that, she was a kleptomaniac girl who adored picking on my best friend Grover.

At that moment, Nancy decided that she was going to throw pieces of cauliflower and ketchup peanut-butter sandwich at Grover's hair, where it got stuck in his chocolate locks.

"I'm going to kill her." I grumbled and went to get up, but Grover pushed me back down with his crutch.

"Perce, it's okay. I like peanut butter." Without looking back, he dodged another piece of flying doomsday sandwich.

"That's it." I went to turn around, but Grover put his hand on my shoulder.

"Percy, you know what'll happen if _anything_ goes wrong on this trip."

This 'trip' was the school's idea to get us out of the halls of the boarding school by sending us 50 miles away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, New York.

Brilliant idea, I know.

Of course, I'm infamous for things going wrong on field trips. In 5th grade, last year, I had accidentally blown up our school bus at Saratoga Battlefield. I wasn't _aiming_ at the bus, but with my luck I hit it anyways. And the year before that, in 4th grade, I accidentally leaned against the lever of the catwalk at Marine World's shark tank. Needless to say, we all went swimming with some very shocked sharks.

And the year before that… Well, you get my point by now.

But still, Grover was the most picked on kid at school (other than me, of course). He was a crippled kid who constantly limped when he walked (but don't let that fool you. He can put up quite a run when it came down to enchiladas for lunch). He always wore jeans that were two sizes too big, and shoes that obviously were too loose. His face was littered with acne, which hinted he must have been held back a few times. A mustache and beard was creeping onto his face in patches, but the school didn't allow razors so there was nothing he could do about it. He had this weird nervous laugh, almost like bleating if you cup your hands around your ears enough, and he cried easily.

Naturally, I was his only friend.

Because of this, everyone picked on me too. I was fine with being picked on – I looked strange in the first place. My hair was pitch black with a deep red hue to it when it was in the light, odd eyes that weren't quite green, but also not quite blue – almost a sweet-green with hints of mint. I was tiny for my age, under the 'Recommended BMI scale', whatever that means. I also had both Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, ADHD for short, and Dyslexia. I spoke with a slight British accent – though I've never left New England. I barely made a 'decent' score in almost any give class. I didn't even have a father for the sake of sanity.

'Lost at sea' my mom told me every-time. 'Left before you were born.'

I love my mom, really, but I never believed her when she said that. But I never had the heart to ask any further because she'd get all misty eyed and stare off into the distance.

"That still doesn't mean she can pick on you like that." I sighed. "It's not fair that the headmaster threatened me with detention if anything happened on this trip. Nancy should be getting detention for this."

"Percy, I'm fine, really. It's just a sandwich."

"You'll have food stuck in your hair all day." I gingerly picked a piece of white-brown-and-red goop out of his curls and wrinkled my nose. "Who even likes this combination?"

Grover laughed and shrugged in response, another piece making its way into his hair. I was about to get up to punch Nancy in the face, when the bus screeched to a halt in front of the museum.

The bus driver announced we had arrived, and that we all must calmly leave the bus.

Nancy stuck her tongue out at me and got up, leaving in the crowd.

Looking back on it, I wish I had decked her in her crooked teeth. It was much better than the mess I was about to get myself into.

ȣ

My Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, led the tour.

He didn't seem like much, at least for a guy in a wheelchair – thinning brown hair the shade of coffee beans, a thin brown jacket 3 shades lighter than his hair, white undershirt, a fedora that matched his brown eyes, all complete with an African tribal blanket over his legs. He had Middle-Eastern toned skin, much like a creamy mocha colour, and he looked around 45. He smelled like sweet cinnamon and hot chocolate, though I've never seen him around either of those things. He was a very strange man.

You'd also wouldn't expect him to own a ton of Roman and Greek style weapons and armour hanging up in a classroom filled with trouble-makers.

He was the only teacher I enjoyed. He had tournament days where he carried around this glowing bronze sword and said, "What Ho!" while he waved it around. It's rather silly, a man in a wheelchair the same length as his sword, but he was always so happy and content with it.

He guided us through the maze of a museum, discussing each display in the Greek exhibit. It blew my mind that this stuff had lasted 2 thousand - 3 thousand years, just to be put in a Pine-Sol smelling museum. The orange and black pots, or what's left of them, collecting dust while the modern world learned little of its rich history.

Gosh, am I really that depressing?

Right now, Brunner was going on about the images on the grave marker, a _stele_ , which typically told the stories of Greek myths. The stele was dedicated to a girl around our age who had died giving birth to a child.

It was quite interesting to learn about, but I could barely hear what he was saying over the snickering crowd of fifty 12-to-13 year olds.

Every time I snapped at them to 'shut up', I'd get a glare from the other chaperone and math teacher, Mrs. Dodds.

Mrs. Dodds was a 50 year old widow from Georgia who looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She wasn't tall, maybe 5 feet max, but her black eyes were those of a hungry wolf – devilish and ready to strike out at a moment's notice. She always had her thinning blonde hair in corn rows or in weaves, even though her scalp was littered with peeling white skin. She always wore black-hued, brown leather jackets and beige jeans (even when those two things do not match at all), and she had this tendency to call anyone in trouble, "Sweetheart".

There were times I doubted she was even human. It all began at the beginning of the term, when our old teacher, Miss Reatherite, had a seizure and was forced into full time medical care. Mrs. Dodds was her newest replacement, and assumed Nancy was a pure angel whilst I was the spawn of Satan himself.

She'd point a crooked, pale white finger at me and say "Now, Sweetheart," anytime I _spoke_ in class, and I knew I was going to be up all night with detention.

The worst I ever had was erasing answers written in workbooks by the thousands of other student who had previously used the books. I told Grover right then and there: "I don't think Mrs. Dodds is even human."

"You're absolutely right," was his reply.

Instead, I tried to listen to what Mr. Brunner was explaining, until Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stone, which was when my patience popped like a bubble.

"Will you just _shut_ _**up**_?"

That came out louder than I thought it would.

Silence rained down thickly amongst the group and Mr. Brunner wheeled around to face us.

"Is there something you'd like to say, Mr. Jackson?"

I felt flushed, my cheeks probably bright red.

"No sir." I grumbled. Mr. Brunner smiled softly.

"Could you humour me by telling me what this picture is?" My heart fell.

He gestured with his pen to a carving that was dead centre on the stele.

I blinked, my mind filled with lottery-sounds. I actually knew what this one was

"That's Kronos. The titan who ate his children." I stood up a little straighter.

Mr. Brunner nodded. If he wasn't paralyzed from the waist down, he would probably of been tapping his foot in impatience for a longer answer.

"And why did he eat his children?"

I frowned and wracked my brain for the answer. "Well, he was king god-"

"God?"

I cursed myself silently, then corrected, "Titan, not god."

Mr Brunner nodded in approval.

"He was king titan, after overthrowing his father for the throne… His father told him that one day he would fall at the hands of his own children. Kronos became paranoid and ate his children to prevent this from happening. When his wife, Rhea, gave birth to baby Zeus, she gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. Zeus was, like, her 6th child and she wasn't too happy about her husband eating her children."

Snickers had arisen in the group, but I was on a roll. "When Zeus grew up, he decided his father was ruling unfairly and that he should be overthrown. He fed Kronos a mixture of mustard and grape juice, which caused him to throw up-"

"Ewwwww." The girls cringed and scooted away from me.

"-the other 5 children in order from youngest to oldest. A big fight between the titans and gods erupted, the gods won and casted the titans to Tartarus. They sliced Kronos into a million pieces with his own weapon as punishment for the unfair judgement of his children."

"Oh please, as if we'd ever need to know all that in real life." Nancy whispered to her friend. "No one's going to put 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids' on a job application."

"And to answer Ms. Bobofit's excellent question, Percy, why would we need to know something like this is real life?"

His voice got deeper, the way it does when he asked the most serious question of the day.

"Busted." Grover glared at the red-head, who was also red-faced from sheer embarrassment. At least Mr. Brunner got onto Nancy too, it made life a little more bearable.

"Um…" I bit down on my lip. "Maybe to explain the phrase 'what goes around comes back around'?"

Mr. Brunner nodded in approval. "You get 10 points extra credit on your next test. Zeus did, indeed, overthrow his father with the help of his five siblings. This is a perfect example of karma, since Kronos and the 4 titans of the compass rose also overthrew their own father. He regurgitated his 5 other children, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia in this exact order, with using a mixture of mustard and wine. On this happy note, it's off to lunch we go. Mrs. Dodds, could you please lead us out to the front?"

So with the girls holding their stomachs and the boys making bets that they wouldn't puke if they were fed mustard and wine, we filed out to the front.

Almost all of us.

"Percy?" Mr. Brunner called out to me. Grover smiled at me and trudged his way outside, his crutches grinding together in a 'chickeeek, chickeeek' sound.

"Yes sir?" I turn around and look down at my Latin teacher.

"You did well, though, I expect better, especially from you." His brown eyes looked like they had lived a thousand years longer than his body had.

"Sir, I thought you sai-" I stopped. Mr. Brunner raised his hand up.

"What I teach you is very important. You might disregard it as just a lesson, but I need you to realize that everything I teach you, everything I expect of you… I do only because it is a matter of life and death."

I wanted to get mad. Mr. Brunner has been expecting me to do 100% perfect 100% of the time. 'Go write down the 100 most worshipped gods of Greece, starting with number 100 and leading up to number 1'. 'Go list the names of the monsters Perseus and Heracles fought'. God forbid if I got one question wrong on a test – he'd give me a long, sad look that made me want to ask for extra credit. It infuriated me that I couldn't read because the words kept floating off the page, or the fact I couldn't sit down to read in the first place because I had a nasty habit of pacing rooms.

But I couldn't get mad, not at Mr. Brunner.

"Yes sir." I mumbled. He took one last look at the stele, as if he knew the girl personally, then guided me outside to join the rest of the group.

ȣ

"Hey." Grover looked up at me from the ledge of the fountain. The glops from Nancy's sandwich were long gone from his hair, and it was wet as if he had washed it off in the fountain.

"Hey." I plopped down next to him.

"Detention or something?" Grover murmured.

I shook my head. "Never from Mr. Brunner. Just a pep talk about how I needed to take all this seriously. I wish he would lay off my sometimes. I'm just a kid, I can't be perfect 24/7."

I put my head in my hands, propping up my elbows with my thighs.

Nancy was over near a group of adults, slipping money out of their wallets without anyone ever noticing a thing (seriously, how blind were those people, not noticing a red-head orange-freckled girl right next to them). Some boys were traumatizing some pigeons with the 'cheese' from their Lunchable packets, pelting them at the birds where the neon orange pieces would stick to their feathers. It was rather sad, that those pigeons were being treated so badly, but if I ever told them to stop, Mrs. Dodds would give me a look that said 'I will wring all the blood out of you like you wring water out of a towel.'

After what seemed like an eternity in silence, Grover looked back at me.

"Can I have your apple?"

I blinked in shock. I thought he was going to say something deep and philosophical to bring me up from the mental hell I just dragged myself into. Instead, I just nodded and he took the apple, then he happily munched on it. I watched the storm advance on us in the distance, lightning grumbling impatiently, as if the clouds were stuck in end-of-workday traffic.

The weather all around America had been fritz-y since the New Year's Eve. Everything from 100 degree weather in the Dakotas in the middle of January to below 0 in April at Miami. A 5.0 earthquake rippled its way through Oklahoma just last month, then the next day there was a series of tornado outbreaks in the same exact spot. It was almost as if the ground, sea, and sky were having an epic battle to-the-death and we, humanity, were stuck in the middle.

Seeing all the weird weather made my stomach churn. I felt more sick more often and no one knew why. I would get aggravated on days where huge disasters would happen (even before they actually _happened_ ), almost as if I had a third eye that predicted the future.

That day I felt like the world just turned itself upside down, and something really bad was going to happen.

Never had I been so right in my life.

Just as I decided to try to eat something from my lunch, Nancy decided that she wanted to torment me and not those poor adults she just robbed. She strutted over to the fountain, which Grover and I were at because we really didn't want to be seen by the other visitors as a part of _that_ school, and dumped the rest of her satan sandwich into Grover's lap.

"Ooops, so sorry." the amount of sarcasm in her voice made my blood boil. "Didn't see you there, my bad."

I blew my casket right then and there. Screw what the counselor tells you, taking 3 deep breaths and counting to 10 won't help anyone's anger. In fact, release it, it's not healthy to hold in emotions.

"Why don't you just go drown yourself in the fountain, Nancy. Save both of us the trouble of seeing your disgusting face." I snap at her, forcing all my emotions into my voice. I don't know why I did, but it just felt right to.

Big mistake.

Nancy's face went completely slack and she fell forward, face-planting directly into the waters behind me. People gasped in shock, then ran forward to see if she was still alive after a few seconds. Grover scrambled to get up, away from Nancy.

I couldn't register what just happened. All I saw was the horror on people's faces.

"What just happened?"

"Did she just listen to him!?"  
"Is she okay?"

Someone pulled Nancy out of the water.

Mrs. Dodds materialized in front of me, her eyes glittered with complete glee. The grin on her face was devilious, as if she had been waiting for this moment to happen all semester. Nancy gasped out, water pouring out of her mouth.

"Percy… Percy pushed me!?" She sounded like she wasn't sure what just happened, and that was the only thing that her pea-sized brain could've thought of.

Mrs. Dodds hurried over to Nancy and made sure she was okay. Promised her new clothes from the gift shop, making one of the boys give her his jacket to wear for warmth, etc. etc.

Then she turned on her kitten heel to smirk at me.

"Now sweetheart-"

"I know, detention for a month." I grumbled, and looked down at my shoes.

Gasps rippled through the crowd of 50 that had pooled around me and Nancy.

"You never guess your punishment." I heard someone hiss in crowd. "He's doomed, I tell you. Doomed."

"Sweetheart. Come with me, _now_."

"Mrs. Dodds, I pulled her in." Grover's chin trembled with fear, making his voice shaky, but he limped to my side. I couldn't believe it. Mrs. Dodds scared the living heaven out of Grover, and yet there he was, taking the blame for me. "She dumped her food in my lap and I got mad. Percy didn't do an-"

"Grover, sweetheart, you didn't pull her into the fountain. Percy pushed her. You'll be staying here."

"But-"

Mrs. Dodds glared at him and he shrunk away from both of us. He glanced at Mr. Brunner, who had parked himself on a ramp with a red umbrella and a Charles Dickens novel. Naturally, he wasn't seeing anything, much less acknowledging the fact something had happened at all.

"Thanks man, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Sweetheart, _now_." Mrs. Dodds snapped, then she turned and made her way up the steps. I followed her, glancing back one last time at the group when I got halfway up the steps. Some people were holding up three fingers and whistling, the way they did in the Hunger Games. Whether or not it was a joke, I couldn't help but feel dread pooling in my chest, like I was walking to my death. When I glanced back at Mrs. Dodds (who I swore I was right behind), she was waiting impatiently at the entrance, as if she had been standing there for a full 5 minutes.

How did she get there so fast?

'Maybe your ADHD is acting up again,' a little voice of uncertainty whispered in the back of my mind.

My counselor had told me recently that it was common for people like me to 'fall asleep', when we zone out and next thing we know, we missed something important. Like a puzzle piece of the universe had fallen out of place and I was left staring into a void of nothingness.

I didn't think that was it though.

I rushed up the stairs, assuming that Mrs. Dodds was going to make me buy Nancy something nice and expensive at the gift shop.

I should have turned and ran to Mr. Brunner, since both teachers should have been involved in this.

Only, I literally had no idea what was going to happen, all I knew was I was in big trouble, probably expulsion-worthy trouble. 6 schools, 6 years, and going on 7.

Lucky me.

When I got to the top of the stair, Mrs. Dodds wasn't there. She was all the way at the end of the corridor, easily 100 feet away from me.

How…?

I didn't think. I just followed silently.

When I had finally caught up to my math teacher, we were back in the Greek Exhibit. It was completely deserted of everyone, excluding Dodds and I. It was the worst feeling in the world - being alone in a room with a teacher. The way she looked overall would be enough to give me heart-failure.

She's a teacher, she can't hurt me… Right?

But something pulled at the back of my mind. The way she glared at the statues of the greek goddess at the edges of the room, the growl forming in the back of her throat…

"You've been giving up a lot of problems, Sweetheart." she purred, keeping her hungry gaze set on the King God, Zeus.

"Y-yes ma'am." I shifted nervously. I felt like an animal trapped in a cage, looking for a way out. I was safe, but still… something told me to run.

"Did you really think you could get away with it?"

"No- no ma'am… I shouldn't have pushed Nancy."

She turned around slowly to face me.

"Oh sweetheart, I don't care about that. Tell me where it is, and you can live."

Wait… live?

"Miss… what are you-"

"Time's up."

I should have ran, but my legs weren't working. Her face morphed into that of a fig - wrinkled, dried, and glistening with a purple hue. Her leather jacket melted away and wings grew out of her back, looking like the jacket was just scraped to make it. Her clothes turned into layers of black cloaks, tattered and covered in dried, cracking blood. A whip curled onto the floor, appearing in her right hand. She looked like she was just pulled out of a horror film, complete with cornrows of hair beaded with glowing blue spikes.

I stumbled backwards, unable to believe my eyes. She bared her fangs.

"Where is it!" She screeched. Her voice sounded like millions of tortured souls were speaking at once, wailing for freedom. Yellow fangs flashed in the light, black blood oozing out of her mouth like a stream after a storm.

Then something even more strange happened. Mr. Brunner, who had just been sitting outside happily indulging in his book, was at the entrance behind Mrs. Dodds (or whoever she was).

"What Ho, Percy!" a gold and purple object flashed through the air - a gold capped purple ballpoint pen.

Only, when I caught it, it wasn't a pen. It was a glowing bronze sword - the one Mr. Brunner used every testing day (aka tournament days).

"Die, Sweetie." The creature who had use to be my teacher flashed her whip towards me. Out of sheer fear, I shifted the sword to my left hand and swung it with all my might.

 _TSSHHhhhhhh._

She was a sand castle in a power fan. The minute the sword connected with her torso, she erupted into a cloud of white dust. A wail of defeat echoed through the halls, and Mrs. Dodds was no more.

There was a gold and purple pen in my hand.

I was all alone in a museum exhibit.

There was white powder all over me.

Did I… did I just hallucinate?

I took a deep breath in, holding back a sob.

What was going on with me?

It felt like forever, but I slowly made my way back outside and down the steps.

It had started raining, fat droplets of icy-cold water pelting everyone outside. Mr. Brunner was still on his ramp, engrossed in his book. Grover was over by the fountain still, holding a map over his head in attempt to keep his hair dry. Nancy was still soaking wet from her swim in the fountain, grumbling with her friends. When she saw me, she sneered.

"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I blinked and stopped walking, pivoting my body to face her. "Who?"

She rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Kerr, our teacher, you idiot."

"I've never met a Mrs. Kerr in my life." She just glared at me and turned away. I stumbled back to Grover.

"Hey… Have you seen Mrs. Dodds anywhere?"

"Who?"

Grover looked at me, his head tilted to the right.

"Mrs. Dodds. Our math teacher. About 5 foot tall, cornrows. Leather jackets…"

"Percy, I- I don't know who you're talking about."

He hesitated. I felt angry again. My best friend was lying point blank to my face.

"Dude, this isn't funny. Where is she?" I pushed the anger down. Last time I got angry, Nancy almost drowned herself. I couldn't loose my best friend to that.

Grover shook his head and I stormed off towards Mr. Brunner.

What was going on with me?

"Awh Percy." Mr. Brunner looked up at me when I was within 5 feet away from him. "How may I help you?"

"Sir, where is Mrs. Dodds?" I steadied my voice.

Brunner bookmarked his page with a blue and pink metal bookmarker that said 'Never a day wasted when a good book is involved' "Percy, my dear boy, I haven't heard of a Mrs. Dodds before."

"But sir-"

"Percy, maybe we need to get you back to the nurse's office when we get back to school. And please, next time bring your own writing utensils."

He held his hand out expectantly and I looked at it, confused. My eyes flickered down to the pen I had forgotten I was holding. Slowly I hand him the strange pen.

"Sorry sir." I mumbled, then turned back around to walk back towards Grover.

Was it really just some weird hallucination?


	2. Three ladies and the scarf of death

**An: I'm very happy with how that last chapter turned out. A little pre-warning: this is will sound a lot like the Lightning thief. I'm not follow the book directly (like, it's not right next to me while I'm typing these up), but i do not take any credit for any of the plot. Even the plot twist coming up isn't entirely my idea… Well, on to the story :)**

ȣ

It was like I was living in a 24/7 nightmare.

I was used to having weird daydreams where I'd see something no one else did, but this was 3 light years away from that.

Everyone acted as if they had never heard of a Mrs. Dodds before in their lives. When I would ask them who the math teacher was, they answered with a 'Mrs. Kerr, duh.'

Infact, there was a new chaperone I had never seen before I stepped back on that school bus later that day.

Mrs. 'Kerr' was this perky blonde woman with an actual bust the size of Texas. She had blue eyes that were very pale, brown roots in her hair, and ghostly white skin that made her look like one of those fake vampires from Twilight. She was rather thin for how tall she was - about 5 foot 9 inches - and favoured wearing blue sundresses with grey felt jackets and white leather knee-high heeled boots. She kinda reminded me of one of the display mannequins you see at stores, the ones that don't come to life because of a plastic overlord. Except she actually had a face and actually moved.

And her voice was so annoyingly high, oh my gosh. She made me cringe every time she talked, it was like listening to a squeaky door that someone keeps swinging in and out just to see who snaps first.

But I have never seen her before in my life. She somehow knew everything about me though. What my favourite colours were (purple and blue), where my dorm was (section C, room 56), and even what my grade was in her class (76 percent exactly)

And worst of all, everyone knew her too. She was the 'popular' teacher, the one who 'was in sync with the times'.

I hated her the moment I saw her.

The last month of school passed by with a painstakingly slow pace. I found myself growing more restless with each passing day. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit, my grades started dropping, I had a harder time sleeping so I constantly had black bags lurking under my eyes. I stopped caring so much about my hygiene, only taking showers when Grover would come over to my dorm and lock me in my bathroom because my hair was drenched in natural oils.

I had a harder time reading in general, because my dyslexia and my mood were interconnected together like two teams in one epic tug-of-war game.

I snapped at my teachers more frequently, calling them names I didn't even know the meaning of. When my English teacher asked me for the thousandth time why I couldn't spell, I told him he should just quit if he wasn't going to actually _aid_ a student who had a disability.

Mr. Nicoll, the english teacher, had turned and walked out of the room with a poker face. My mom got a phone call later that day regarding a teacher who had quit because I had told him to, and that I would not be invited back to Yancy the following year.

That was fine with me. I hated this place, with an exception of Grover and latin class. I missed my mom, I missed home. I missed real food - not school food, but _actual homemade food_.

The weather didn't help my mood either. Thunderstorms shook the building every single night as if to say 'You don't get the luxury of sleep, you killed you math teacher.'

Only there was no way she could have been my math teacher. She couldn't have been human at all. No one remembered her but me. I mentioned her every once and awhile, to try to trip them up, but all i got was strange looks.

I almost believed I had dreamt it all up.

Almost.

Those eyes, that hair, the way she had demanded me to tell her something…

"Where is it?"

Those three words rang in my head every single night since that day at the beginning of May. There was no way that I had daydreamed of something so terrifying.

She had asked me if I had 'gotten away with it'. I thought she had meant that I couldn't tell student to drown themselves, but that little voice at the back of my head whispered to me, "That's not what she meant."

The voice sounded like someone else had been talking to me, like another being was talking to me in the back of my mind.

As last-week exams were coming up, I found myself studying only for Latin. That thing Mr. Brunner had told me, about this being a matter of life and death… I had actually started believing that was true.

ȣ

I found myself unable to sleep the night before my final exam - the one I'll be taking for Latin. It was midnight, maybe closer to 1, when I found myself leafing through the pages of my school workbook, scribbles of illegible writing dotting the pages like crows in the daylight. I couldn't sleep because of the loud cracks of thunder right outside my window, the chill of evil whispering right outside my window making me uneasy. It was past curfew, but why would I actually care about that? I was already being banned from returning to Yancy, no one would care if I was breaking the curfew rule.

I slapped the book off my bed, watching it smash into the wall several feet away from me. The words had started moving, like ants scattering away from a raindrop. They were spinning and twisting, dancing across my eyesight with a chaotic grace.

There was no way I was going to pass this test, much less ace it. I put my face in my hands.

"One more day." I muttered to myself. "One more torturous day of exams, and then freedom."

I got up off the bed and shuffled to the book. Gingerly, I plucked it off the floor and closed it softly.

I'd never asked for help from Brunner, ever. Hopefully he was still in his office. Maybe then I could explain why I was about to flunk his test.

I pulled on a blue hoodie over my dirty shirt, pulled some socks on my feet, and swapped my pajama pants for a pair of clean-ish jeans. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and made by way downstairs in the dark halls of the living quarters.

Mr. Brunner's light was on in his office, which made me sigh with relief. I padded softly to the door to his office when I heard a voice.

"...worried about Percy, sir." I stopped in my tracks. That sounded like Grover.

I'm not one to eavesdrop on anyone, but I dare you to _not_ listen to your best friend when they're talking to a teacher about you. Bonus points if it's your favourite teacher.

I inched closer so I was pressed against the wall next to his door, which was cracked open slightly.

"...alone for the summer. Sir, he saw her, he saw a Kindly One. The fact it was a _kindly one_ , the fact _they_ know now-"

"And we'll only make matters worse if we push too much." Mr. Brunner's voice was calm and collected. I heard Grover sniffle and I resisted the urge to knock down that door and demand to know what's going on. Instead, I clutch my book tighter to my chest.

"But… but there might not be time. The solstice deadline, it's so soon-"

"And if it comes down to it, we will resolve it without him."

Solstice deadline? What was Grover talking about? And resolve what?

"Sir… _he saw her_!" Grover's voice shook with what sounded like fear.

"His imagination." Mr. Brunner chided softly. "The mist on the other should be enough to convince him that it was just his imagination."

"He keeps pushing. He's getting stronger… Sir, I can't fail my duties again." That last part was chocked full with tears. "You know what would happen to me if I fail again."

"You haven't failed. I should have seen her for what she really was." Mr. Brunner sounded a little broken. "For now, we'll just focus on keeping Percy alive until the fal-"

 _Thuwd_.

My book slipped out of grasp and slammed to the floor. My jaw almost felt

The voices from the other side of the wall stopped talking. Instantly, I bent down, picked the book back up, and slowly backed away from the door. I made it a good 25 feet away when the door swung open. In panic, I pulled myself into the open hall closet and pull the door to a crack behind me.

 _Clop, clop, clop, clop._

The sound was like coconuts being tapped together. I held my breath and closed my eyes, knowing my body would fail my mind if I looked around.

I heard an animal pause right in front of the door, sniffing the air. I bit down so hard on my tongue that I tasted blood, but I kept my eyes and mouth shut.

The clopping sound continued past the closet, and a moment later, I heard Mr. Brunner sigh.

"My senses have been off since the winter solstice."

"I could have sworn-"

"Me too…" Mr. Brunner cut Grover off. "Now, I believe you have a test to take later today?"

"Please don't remind me." my best friend groaned. "I'm never ready for those."

I heard the light click off in Mr. Brunner's office and the door lock.

I stood in that small closet for what seemed like forever. Finally I swung the door open and stepped out into the dark hallway.

I could barely breath right, my anxiety slowly taking over my mind.

'Keep Percy alive.'

That's what he said. That's what my _teacher_ said. Not _pass_ , _**alive**_.

And what had Grover said… a Kindly One?

I had a lot to think about was I padded my way back to my tiny dorm room.

ȣ

Rule number one: never take a Latin Exam with only 3 hours of sleep under your wing.

It sucks big time, and you can barely resist the urge to just collapse on the test and sleep there.

When I mean resist, I literally mean resist. It was a 3 hour long test with 23 pages of questions to answer.

23 double sided pages.

As much as I love this class, a _23 double sided test is overkill._

I finished late, as usual, but I wasn't the only one in the room. At least half the class was still in the room when I sulked to the front to turn in my packet. On my way out, Mr. Brunner called out to me.

"Percy?"

I stopped in my tracks. Slowly turning from the doorframe to face Brunner, I worried that he had found out I had overheard his conversation with Grover.

That didn't seem to be the issue though.

"Look, Percy… you leaving Yancy," He frowned, as if he couldn't find the right way to put this. "It's for the best."

My cheeks grew warm. "Right."

"I mean, you just don't… belong here. You're not normal, you-"

He was whispering, but the people in the front row still heard him anyways. Nancy was smirking at me, mouthing, "You're not noooormal."

"I understand, no need to keep going." I snapped at my teacher. Enraged, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the room and straight to my dorm to pack up to go home.

I heard Mr. Brunner call for me but I didn't stop until I got to my bed. My about-to-be old bedroom was still messy from the uniforms I refused to pick up. I wasn't going to miss this place. I hated Yancy with a passion. But that wouldn't matter anymore.

I was going home, at least until Mom finds me my next school. Hopefully one without a demon who was my math teacher that no one remembers.

Except Grover and Mr. Brunner apparently. _Kindly One_ , that's what they called Mrs. Dodds.

Ȣ

As I climbed on the greyhound to head back home, I was shocked to see Grover sitting in the back.

"Hey G-man… I didn't know you lived in in Manhattan." I slump down next to him. He had a beanie atop his curls and he was fiddling with a Rubix Cube.

"I don't, but it's on my way home." Grover looked up at me with his beady eyes. He looked rather sad, like he had been crying.

"Oh."

We sat in silence for awhile. Every time someone coughed or someone would accidently bump the seat, Grover would look around panicked.

Finally, when we hit to freeway and someone sneezed (causing Grover to jump), I turned to him and said, "Looking for a Kindly One?"

Grover nearly broke down right then and there.

"W-what… What are you tal-"

"I overheard you and Mr. Brunner talking early this morning." I frowned at him.

"How much did you hear?" He whispered softly, his eyes darting around.

"Not much," I shrugged. "What's the solstice deadline?"

"Look percy, just.." He dug into his pockets and pulled out a thick 2 by 3 inch card.

He handed it to me. The words were metallic block letters, so it was hard to read.

 _ **Grover Underwood**_

 _ **Keeper**_

 _ **Camp Half Blood, Long Island, NY**_

 _ **009-009-0090**_

"If any goes wrong, you should call me. This is my summer location..."

My heart fell.

"You want me to call your summer home?" I couldn't believe it. My best friend for the entire school year and I never knew he was rich.

Grover opened his mouth, probably to shoot down the question judging by the look on his face, when the bus suddenly filled with black smoke.

I gagged on the smell - it was like the portable bathrooms after a major sporting event. The bus driver instructed us to evacuate the bus immediately while he fixed the engine.

Fine by me. Nothing like being a 12 year old kid standing on the side of Interstate 90, smack middle of nowhere with a best friend who think's you're going to die.

4 lanes of traffic dotted the land beside the bus. Cars honked in annoyance and trucks inched along the road at snail-like speeds. In a few of those cars were some of the kids from Yancy, on their way to the airport to go fly someone exotic for summer break.

Most of those kids had rich parents.

"I'm going to the Bahamas for a month"

"I'm going to stay with my grandma in Brazil."

"I'm travelling Europe for a week."

No one asked me what I was doing. Everyone knew I didn't have money like they did. I had to work summer jobs to help mom buy for food. We were knee-deep in debt because my stepfather gambled all our money away in his stupid poker games.

Grover tapped his foot nervously next to me. I sighed and leaned against a tree. On the other side of the interstate was a fruit stand filled with oddly-ripe fruit (despite it being spring still)

When I mean filled, I mean this had enough to serve a family of 8 for 3 weeks. Apples the size of Grapefruits, Grapefruits the size of my head, Pineapples as big as my calf, grapes dangling from the edge of the table. There were tons of fruit but no one stopped by the stand.

Waiting patiently beside their stand for customers were three very old women. Two of them were holding huge balls of oddly shaded blue yawn - almost electric but not quite. In between them was the other women, who was knitting a scarf easily 10 feet long.

Grover paled in my peripheral vision. "Please tell me they aren't looking at you."

The three women were staring right at me with their beady-black eyes.

"Weird… Why would anyone want a scarf that long?" I turned to look at him. "Do you think if I asked they'd let me have it?"

"Percy we need to get back into the bus."

"What, are you crazy? It reeks in there." I wrinkled my nose at him.

"Percy please."

"No! You can go back in, but I'm staying out here until that smell goes away."

Grover's chin trembled. He looked on the verge of crying. I sighed and finally agreed to get back on.

Right before I got back on the bus, I turned and looked back at the stand. The woman on the right pulled out a pair of glowing gold sheers and handed them to the woman in the middle.

I felt like a line in the back of my brain had snapped. The lady took the scissors and tugged the two free strings taunt. In one swift motion, she cut the strings.

I heard that snip across 4 lanes of thick, heavy traffic. A chill settled on my spine and I watched the women shimmer like a mirage before the stand then they had disappeared completely.

Suddenly the driver hooted out in triumph. "Guys, guess who just fixed your ride home!"

Cheers erupted in the crowd of happy bus-riders. I looked back at Grover, who was as pale as snow and standing in the middle of the bus-aisle. The expression on his face reminded me of a person about to have a stroke.

"Always 6th grade. It's always sixth grade."

"Uh Grover?"

He looked at me with a pained look in his eyes. He looked at me the way someone looks at someone who was about to die.


	3. Evil stepfathers and perfect beach cabin

Confession Time:

I ditched Grover the minute we got off that cursed bus.

Okay, rude I know. But he kept tearing up and muttering like I was a dead man. He made a 3 fingered claw over his heart every other minute. Even when we got off the bus, he forced me over into an unpopulated section of the street and told me to wait for him whilst he went to the bathroom.

As you can clearly tell, I didn't wait.

Instead, the minute he was out of sight, I pulled his luggage into a corner by the trash cans, put some empty trash next to it, and hailed down a taxi, fishing out some money.

"One-Hundred-and-Fourth and First please." I said as I slipped into the back seat.

I watched in sorrow as the bus station disappeared around a corner and hoped Grover's stuff didn't get stolen. Pushing my thoughts about my friend out of my head, I focused on finding "For Hire!" signs.

Naturally there were none.

I slumped down in tears as we got closer to my apartment. I hated being so emotional but I needed a way to make more money, to at least ease the pressure about to be put on Mum.

Luckily for me, it took an hour to get there because of the crazy New York City traffic. It's not a small city, but it's so tightly compact that every single taxi gets backed up the minute one light turns red.

By the time I got home, if you have the audacity to call it that, I was ready to face the world. I payed the taxi driver and stumbled down the block with my suitcase in hand. Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the front door and stepped into a wall of smoke.

A little warning before you meet my stepfather: Don't. Don't look at him. Don't come within 50 feet of him. Don't even think about _breathing_ around him.

His name was Gabe Ugliano, and he looked more pungent than his name sounded. First of all, at first glance, he looked like a beached beluga whale. When you looked closer, you could see he was actually a real human being. He had at least 3 thick black hairs combed over his scalp, making it look like someone carved latitude lines on his scalp. His teeth were blackened from years of smoking cigars and chewing tobacco, and he constantly smelled like beer, high school gym rooms, 4 year old pizza, and the other 7000 chemicals in tobacco. When I was little, I nicknamed him 'Smelly Gabe'. He was overweight by 200 pounds, all his clothes the same colour from the millions of food stains on them. He had sunken, murky brown eyes and patchy skin covered in acne scars. His personality was one to rival the Grinch himself. Something told me Gabe didn't even know what Christmas was. When he dated my mom, he was as nice as can be. The moment that wedding band was on his finger though, that's when he showed who he truly was. He yelled at mom constantly, and yelled at me even more. He refused to pick up any of his trash, which would collect until it was knee deep. I'd be forced to pick up every single piece of trash, only to wake up the next morning to more trash thrown carelessly on the floor. We had a major cockroach infestation (even though roaches weren't even from here) and he would pitch all the blame on me.

I'm surprised we hadn't been thrown out by then. But the landowner was Gabe's buddy, so he probably just tolerated it.

The moment I opened up the door was when the smell hit me.

Home sweet home.

I choked back a gag and stepped around the piles of beer cans. Sure enough, in the living room was the devil of the day - Smelly Gabe.

He was sitting at the coffee table in the room, a deck of playing cards in his hand. A cigar hung haphazardly from his mouth, threatening to fall and burn his lap (which I wish had happened). I could tell the smell in the house was rolling off of him, since I could see a layer of grease covering both him and his clothes.

There were three other people there - Steve (the apartment supervision) and two goons I'd never met. Steve was a nice dude, and would be handsome if he could afford the luxury. Soft brown hair graced the top of his head, and he was fit enough to run 15 miles farther that I ever could. However, because his father was a criminal, he couldn't get a high paying job. Instead he was stuck here, renting out apartments the size of walk in closets to 'bottom feeders'.

The other two dudes could have easily been Gabe's brothers. Probably not, one Gabe Ugliano is ugly enough for this world.

"Hey." I glared at Gabe, who returned the glare.

"Got any cash?" Smoke rolled out of his mouth in a waterfall fashion, draining down his shirt.

"No." I clenched my jaw and lied.

His beady eyes narrowed and his nose twitched. I cursed mentally, but didn't drop my glare. The dude was like a bloodhound when it came to money. I don't know how he could even breathe at all, considering he smelled like something that should be marked as a biohazard.

"You took a taxi… probably payed with a 20, maybe got 6 dollars back. Everyone holds their own here, and I expect you to pay up when I tell you to."

I bit my lip to avoid snapping back at him and fished out the 5 the taxi driver had handed me, slamming it down on the table.

"Hope you loose." I kept my voice low and harsh, before I turned back around to stalk towards my room.

Gabe called out, "I wouldn't be so cocky, Pretty Boy. Your report card came in today."

I slammed the door to my room and slumped against the wall. I didn't look up at the mess I knew was there. After all, this was 'Gabe's Study' when I was away. Mountains of magazines piled the bed, only a handful were 'kid friendly'. There were beer cans on every other surface, making the room reek of old carbon, mildew, and alcohol. Somewhere, shoved in a corner, would be all my belongings, or what was left of them.

Life sucked bad.

3 months here, in hell number one before mom sent me to hell number two.

This place was almost as bad as Mrs. Dodds, or those three ladies with the scissors.

But the moment I thought about that, I felt like I was going to pass out from fear. Nothing can be worse than that… right?

I got to work after a few minutes of deep breathing. I crushed all the cans and built a rather impressive tower in the far left corner of my room. I took the magazines, careful at not looking at the covers, and put them in stacks under a blanket in another corner of my room. When I was done, my room looked more like a room than a dumpster.

"Percy?"

A knock gently rang on my room and I looked up from my bed. My heart started racing and I ran to the door, flinging it open and barreling her with a hug.

"Mom!"

A few words about this lovely lady before you actually meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson.

She's kind, beautiful, and has the best patience in the world.

Of course she had the worst luck though.

When she was 2, she was the only survivor of a passenger plane that went spiralling down into Pacific Ocean. Her father had died, and her mother's body was never found. The only person she could stay with was her uncle on her father's side, and that guy was much like Gabe. He didn't take care of himself the right way, constantly scowled at my mom, and took his rage out when he was drunk.

Her dream was to become the best author the world has ever seen. She was even pen pals with J.K. Rowling when she was little. When she was 14 she had completely saved up for 6 years in college (somehow), and was ready to take on the world.

When she was 16 her uncle was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Shocking, since it's typically found in females. It's not limited to females though, men can get it. Mom took all her college savings out to help him get cured. He passed away from the cancer, only 2 weeks away from being done with the chemo.

She was left alone with no money, no home, and no way to live.

Then she met my father.

She never told me what he looked like. In fact, she doesn't talk about him much at all. All she would tell me was 'It was only for year, Percy. It was the best year of my life.'

Nothing about what he looked like, or acted like, or where he was even from. Not even an age.

'Did I ever meet dad?'

'No'

'Why not? Did he not want me?'

'Percy, that's not true. Just… there was a shipwreck…' Her eyes would get misty and I would drop the subject, in fear that she might start crying.

She had deep blue eyes that held so much wisdom. Her long, black hair was down to her waist, though she always wore it in a bun, and was streaked with natural greys. Her skin was lightly wrinkled, but she never looked old. I was almost the same height as her - 5 foot 4 - but I knew one day I would tower above her. She was 100% Polynesian, other than the fact her great great grandfather was never recorded in our family. I was only half Polynesian, until otherwise proven, but I still had the same creamy-brown like skin, which some people mistaken for as a deep tan, and the same hair as she did.

The only thing different were my eyes.

Lots of people would ask me where I got 'my contacts from' because my eyes were such an exotic colour. Not quite green, but not quite turquoise. They were a mixture of mint, sweet-green, aqua, and other colours you would find in an aesthetic-painting of the ocean. The closest colour to describe my eyes was 'Mediterranean Green', or better known as sea-green.

I don't know where I got the colour from, but I had always assumed that I got it from dad. Mom had deep blue eyes, like the icy waters of the north.

My mom smiled down at me. "Percy, it's so good to see you." Her warm voice rolled over me, smoothing all the rough edges caused by my anger.

"I missed you mom." I snuggled closer to her and she just laughed in response. Instantly I felt so much better. I forgot about the anger, the fear, the pain. I felt happy.

"Come on sweetheart, let's go into the kitchen and you can tell me all about Yancy."

Nodding in glee, I unraveled myself from mom and let her guide me to the poor excuse of a kitchen.

The glow coming off my mom was energizing, like a cup of warm, perfectly brewed, semi-sweet black tea, with a hint of lemon and a splash of milk.

I sat at the counter next to mom as she did the dishes. She hummed softly as I tried my hardest to sound upbeat about Yancy. I had almost lasted the entire year this time, much farther than I have ever come in any of my other schools. I told her about Latin class, and how I made a really good friend this year.

Of course the moment I mentioned Grover, my voice faltered and my heart dropped. I had left him behind at that bus station, not even saying goodbye.

Then I remembered the way he looked at me. The fact he actually remembered Mrs. Dodds…

"Sweetheart, what were you going to say?" Mom mused and smiled at me.

"What?" I snapped out of my thoughts to look up at her. She pursed her lips and tilts her head to inspect my look.

"Something about Grover?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I crossed my arms and met her calculating gaze with my own. A smile hinted on her lips.

"Oh well, looks like I'll have to weasel it out of you… at the cabin."

I gasped and held back a squeal. "We're going to Montauk?!"

Her smile spread like a wildfire across her face, confirming my statement.

"Oh my god, when?!"

"Right after I get dressed." She laughed and gestured to her 'Sweet on America' uniform.

"Hey Sally, whad I say about that bean dip."

My blood began to boil and I twisted around to glare at Gabe. Low and behold, the guy could actually stand. Well, by 'stand' I actually mean lead against the doorframe like some sick vertical French woman posing for a painting.6

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I had to clean the bowl to make it in. Percy and I were just talking about this weekend." Mom remained calm, cool, and collected, unlike me. I was ready to tear his throat out and shove it in a can of Bush's Baked Beans.

His pig-nose wrinkled even more than usual, his eyebrows knitting together to give him a solid unibrow.

"You were serious about that?"

I almost exploded right then and there. Instead I grumbled, "Of course he wouldn't let us go."

"Oh, Percy, of course Gabe's letting us go." Mom placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "He's just worried about money, that's all."

"The money for all of this is coming out of your clothing budget, right?" He stated slowly, as if speaking to a toddler.

"Yes, dear." Mom nodded in hurried agreement. "And instead of the bean dip, i'll make you enough seven layer dip to last through the entire weekend."

Gabe seemed to think about that statement, which is a miracle in itself, then nods. "Maybe if the boy apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

I gritted my teeth together so hard I worried I wouldn't have teeth left after this. I looked back at mom, who nodded and looked at me with those eyes that said ' _Just do it and 15 minutes from now, we won't see him until Sunday Night.'_

I sighed and turned back to look at Gabe. "I am so terribly sorry for interrupting your gravely important poker game." My accent thickened the farther along I got into that sentence.

Gabe's eyes narrowed at my apology, which wasn't sincere at all, but his brain was probably still thinking about that seven-layer dip, and nodded/grunted.

"Hurry up, would ya."

With that, he turns and wobbled back to the table in the 'living room'.

"Percy, go pack up for the trip." Mom twitched her head in the direction of my room. "I'll come get you when I'm ready to go."

I said nothing, just slipping off the half-broken barstool and sulked back to my room to pack.

Ȣ

In no time we were packing the back of Gabe's neon red '78 Camaro. Luckily he treated the car much better than he treated the house - It smelled of old leather with a tinge of Pine-Sol. Personally, I hated that car. It was worth more than all our belongings mixed together, enough to pay for Mom's college bills.

Of course, Gabe wasn't giving this piece of very expensive garbage away. It was the closest thing he had to a child that couldn't complain about him.

Speaking of which, the owner of the car in question had the decency to see us off.

"If I see one scratch on the car when you get back…" He grumbled under his breath, glaring at me like I was devil-spawn.

At least if I were devil-spawn, I could torture him when he died.

That thought, though strangely dark, pleased me.

"Not like I'd be the one driving." I breathed out, careful not to let Gabe hear. I loaded my luggage into the trunk and smiled grimly at my mom. She nodded briefly and closed the trunk, slipping into the driver's seat.

Gabe turned to go back inside and an idea bubbled into my head. I don't why why, but I've been seeing Grover doing it for most of the bus ride. I clawed my thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger and curled my other two into my left hand, then placed it on the right. Slowly, acting like I was pulling evil out of my heart, I jerked my hand away from my chest and pretended to fling air at Gabe. In a sudden gush of wind, the screen door slammed into his back, sending him flying face first into a pile of roach-infested garbage.

I didn't question what just happened. I just slipped into the back behind mom and said, "Step on it."

Thinking back, I probably should have question what happened. There was no way _that_ was dumb luck.

Ȣ

An hour of traffic later, we pulled up to a rundown, old cabin with peeling grey-blue paint and an old bench swing hanging down in the front.

Now this was a place I would totally call home. No sarcasm in that statement, I legit love this place. Montauk beach, a section of land that belonged to the Jackson Family.

That's right, we owned this part of the beach. A final gift my father gave my mother before he was stupid enough to ditch her and drown to death.

Of course, Gabe didn't know we owned the cabin, or the section of the beach. He believed we had to pay to stay here.

Yeah right, as if we'd actually tell _him_ the truth. He'd force us to sell the land because 'It can be worth so much'. The dude only cared about 4 things: His car, his cards, his beer, and his money. Nothing else.

He didn't care for me, my health, my sanity. The dude use to hit me all the time, back when I went to public school. I was in 3rd grade the last time I went to a local school. I kept lying and telling them I was getting into fights after school with the other kids. Of course, this is why I got kicked out. After that, mom started sending me to boarding schools all along the New England seaboard.

He wasn't much better to mom either. He didn't hit her, mostly because he hit me instead, but he has threatened her many times. He told me that if I didn't tell her about anything he did to me, he wouldn't hurt her. I loved my mom a lot, so I just kept our 'man secret' to myself.

But for the next two days, I didn't have to think about Gabe. All I had to think about were riptides, campfires, and blue food.

Lots and lots of blue food.

Strangely, this is the only good thing that ever came out of mom marrying Gabe.

Okay, you're probably confused right now. Yeah, so was Gabe. So much so that when I told mom one day that I wanted blue waffles, he said there was no such thing.

Thus came about the Blue Revolution. You heard me right, my mom made nothing but blue food. Blue chocolate chip cookies, blue pretzels, blue onion rings, blue homemade sausages, blue smoothies. You name it, chances are she's made it blue. Honestly, sure it's a little out of hand, but this was war. Gabe said it can't be done, he just opened a door that mom gladly strided through. Mom was bloody sure to take that idea by the horns. Now all i ate at home was blue food, or at least blue ON it for stuff like hotdog buns or chicken.

Mom and I got to work immediately, cleaning the piles of sand that had collected in the cabin. She dusted off the counters and cabinets while I mopped and swept the floors. The sun was low in the sky, beginning it's descent into dusk when we got done cleaning. By that time I was worn down to the bone and ready to collapse onto the bed and sleep til noon tomorrow. But I couldn't, not when mom insisted on a campfire with blue marshmallows.

I can't say no to blue marshmallows. I just can't. It's a crime against the blue food gods themselves.

So I just curled up with mom on a blanket, looking up to the starlit sky next to a warm orange fire that crackled in our ears. The sea was calm. Waves were rolling their way to the beach, mimicking the motions milk makes in a saucer while a cat is drinking. (By the way, don't feed your cats regular milk. They are lactose intolerant because cats don't drink milk naturally). The night was abnormally cool, despite the fact that it was almost summer, and the sky was clear. No storm brewing in the distance, no freaky snowstorms, no raging wildfires caused by lightning. Just a calm, peaceful night. For once, the world held its breath to let a mother and son have a nice campfire.

All we did for a long time was watch the sky in silence, eating gooey blue marshmallows smashed between blue-dyed white chocolate and honey graham crackers. Finally, I asked the question I have asked since I could talk.

"Tell me the story about when you met dad." I whispered, curling up closer to her.

"Percy, you've heard it a million times already."

"I know," I mused. "But I love it when you tell it."

"Okay." She shifted, and I scooted to the side so she can sit up.

"It was 14 years ago. Right at this very cabin." She smiled. "I was delivering flowers and got lost, and my car broke down right there" She pointed off to a dirt road.

I swore her eyes changed colour to a deep emerald. "It was cold out and… well the lost flower girl shouldn't stay out in the snow, should she?"

She raised an eyebrow at me and I playfully rolled my eyes, nodding. "I was invited in and we ate dinner together. Infact, before I got back on the road, I was told I could come back at anytime. And I did. For an entire year I spent the night in this cabin."

Her eyes glazed over and her face melted into one of pure content. "Then I was informed that there was an emergency regarding family. As one last gift, I got this cabin, when I was informed the boat was sunk."

Her eyes got misty and I hugged her. "I'm sure dad would have come back."

"Yeah…" her hand wrapped around my upper back. "I think so too…"

After a long silence, I whispered "I think we should get some sleep. I want to see the sunrise tomorrow."

Mom nodded, being dragged back to the real world. She told me to go back to the cabin while she cleaned up our little fire area.

I was so tired that I didn't think twice about the fact that when I looked back from the screen door, the tide had crawled up to the fire 50 feet farther inland and put the fire out.

Probably should have. Bad things went down that night.

 **An: Before anyone completely freaks out about the fact i 'got the side of the chest the heart is on' wrong, Percy will have something called _Situs inversus_ , or a medical condition where his organs are mirrored. Yes this is a real thing, I have actually met someone with this condition. It's going to be his most guarded secret in the series, not even the gods will know he has it.**

 **Special thanks to my friend who helped me on this one. She got me out of some really awkward tense changes.**


	4. Why I should take up bull fighting

Some people's hobbies are arts-and-crafts

Others prefer music.

Me?

Bull fighting with a dose of drag racing.

Too far? Maybe I should rewind a little.

Actually, let's rewind _a lot._

When I went to bed that night, I dropped like a rock. I had no problem _falling_ asleep, but _staying_ asleep was proving to be an issue.

Normally my dreams were dominated by Mrs. Dodds and her crazy demon screams, but tonight it was different. Much different.

I was standing on the beach, my back to the cabin so I was facing the sea. But the sea wasn't the only thing I was facing. Halfway between the choppy shore was the two most majestic creatures I have ever seen. To my right was a sleek black stallion with a blue streaked mane and piercing green orbs that matched mine. To my left was a eagle with gold and white feathers, which should have been impossible, and glowing eyes that were the colour of lightning blue. It would have been the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen if the two creatures weren't attacking each other.

The beach glowed a deep gold hue, laughter echoing in my ears I watched the horse snap at the eagle's wing as it swooped in to claw at his eyes. I screamed for them to stop as the beach glowed brighter.

" _Perseeeeus… Not what I expected, but you'll have to do."_

The voice was deep and dark, almost too ancient to be speaking something like English. I tried to run forwards, but the winds from the storm that was rapidly approaching was pushing me back, so it made me feel like I was sprinting on a treadmill. Sand whipped around in the wind, stinging my skin just as bad as the rain was. The horse stumbled from the wind and the eagle saw its chance, taking a powerful dive towards his eyes.

"NOOO." I screamed and the ground opened below me, pulling me under.

I woke up with a start.

Lightning illuminated the bedroom, thunder growling at me like I was the one who caused the storm. The window had been left open, so there was puddles of water filling up quickly in the cracks on the floor. Thunder ripples through the air and mom sat up with wide eyes.

"Hurricane."

My head was killing me, my heart thumping in my ears.

No… not my heart…

I turned to look at the side door to the cabin, which was rattling from a force that couldn't be the wind. The direction was all wrong, that side of the cabin was facing the same direction the wind was travelling.

Mom nearly flew out of the bed, pulling a jacket over her night shirt and tracked her way to the door.

It flew open with such force that the top hinge broke off the frame. I saw the shape of a person about my height stumble with shock, looking up at my mom. I scrambled out of bed, pulling on the first thing I could find - my mom's red windbreaker.

I stumbled up next to my mom and my blood ran cold. In front of me was a wet, wheezing, and obviously grumpy Grover Underwood. He was still wearing his Yancy Academy issued uniform shirt, but where his legs should have been...

"I've been looking for you all night!" His wild eyes dart between me and mom. "You shouldn't have left like that!"

"Percy what does he mean by that?" Mom turned to look at me. I stammered something under my breath about the three ladies at the stand and how Grover told me to wait for him but I didn't because he was scaring me. With each sentence her eyes got wider.

A spine-chilling roar suddenly interrupts whatever mom was about to tell me and we all turn to look down the beach. A huge figure hovered above something white, probably Grover's ride here, and was shredding it with some sort of knuckle-thing.

"We- we need to go!" Grover's chin shakes violently. His feet clopped nervously. Where his legs and feet should have been were two furry sticks with hooves.

"Agreed. Percy, we are going to have a long discussion about this _afterwards._ " I gulped and nodded, my eyes wider than the moon. In a minute, we were heaving ourselves into the neon red hunk of metal.

Whatever was tearing away at Grover's car was too busy to notice an ugly vintage car pull out of the area.

"How far?" Mom looked in the rear-view mirror at Grover, who smelled oddly of farm animal.

"Th… three and a half."

"Very well." She nodded and stepped down hard on the gas. We crawled up in speed, finally hitting the car's limit of 65.

"What the hell Grover?" I turn to face my best friend. "How did you even know where I was?"

"That doesn't matter! Why did you ditch me?!"

"Well you kept acting like I was dying of cancer!" My hands twitched in exasperation. "Maybe if you told me what was going on-"

"Percy, we never tell people what's going on. When they start becoming aware…" Grover was cut off with another blood-curdling roar for the mysterious beast. He paled 5 shades and turned to look out the rear window.

I did too.

"I'm guessing that's what happens?" I whispered, my voice on the verge of cracking. Grover nodded.

"Where… where are we going?"

"A summer camp. For… for people like you." Mom's voice was oddly calm for the situated.

"What do you mean…?" I turn to look at her.

"Percy that's not the main concern right now. Lets just say that I've had this discussion with…" She stopped, but I knew who she was referring too.

"Dad. Dad wanted me to go to a summer camp? But… but he never knew me…"

"Percy please, this isn't the time-" Grover tried to place his hand on my shoulder.

"No! This is the time! My mom isn't telling me the whole truth and my best friend showed up out of nowhere with a mysterious monster screaming behind him and he has ram legs-"

"Blaaaaaahahaha! Goat!"

I stopped and looked at him. Did he just…

"What?!"

"Goat. Not ram, goat! I'm part goat."

"Great. I'm hallucinating." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "This is all a dream, I would like to go back to re-"

Lots of things could have gone wrong right there. Mom could have taken a sharp turn and flipped to car, or hit the breaks and hydroplaned into a tree.

Instead, all I saw was white. I felt weightless and my entire body burned like i had jumped into a fire. I couldn't breathe or see anything.

' _Great. I'm dead.' Was my first thought. 'Who knew death was so painful.'_

"Percy." A sweet voice called behind me. "Percy you need to wake up sweetie."

Warmth washed over me and I thought sleepily, ' _Yes. I need to wake up.'_

Not creepy at all.

Before I opened my eyes, I could have sworn I saw a woman and long hair and clear skin, but I couldn't tell what colour it was. It was like she was every colour of hair and skin, like she was some sort of goddess.

"Your mother and friend need you, Percy. Save them."

My eyes flew open and I was instantly hit with the smell of melting metal. I was hanging upside down, tethered to my seat only by my seatbelt. Grover hadn't been so lucky - he was unconscious, sprawled against the roof… or what was left of it. The entire shotgun seat side was charred to a crisp, blackened and boiled into a tar-like mess.

Lightning. We got hit with lightning.

Mom groaned and I slowly unbuckle myself, slipping down to the roof and helped mom down too.

Grover mumbled something under his breath, but he didn't wake up.

"Percy, are you okay?" Mom cupped my face. "Oh no… you're bleeding."

Her finger graced over my eyebrow, which was pulsing in a dull pain. I saw blood stain her fingers.

"I'm… I'm fine… We need to get out of here."

She nods. "Help me get Grover."

I just nodded, lifting the scrawny half-goat kid up as mom kicked out the door. Luckily, the doors on the driver's side of the car were undamaged, so we could get out easily. Mom grabbed Grover from me the moment she opened my door, and I climbed out. My headache had gotten worse, but for some weird reason the minute I stepped into the rain, I felt better. Like the rain was recharging my mental batteries. I could see better, my eyebrow stopped hurting, I felt stronger. Mom seemed to be going through the same thing. Her skin, which had reddened from the heat from the bolt, turned back to it's creamy brown. Her eyes cleared up and she gasped, looking behind me.

"We… Percy, we need to get to the top of that hill. Now." She pointed behind me. I turned to look up at the only hill in about 3 miles. It wasn't well kept, the grass was at waist-level, and there was a Christmas-in-Time-Square sized pinetree proudly looming over us at the top of the hill. I couldn't find words to explain that there was _absolutely no way I could make it to the top of that hill without passing out._

RAWWWWR.

Mom's eyes widened even more than they already were, if that was even possible, and she turned to look back at the street. The beast was stumbling drunkenly, knocking over trees and power poles.

"Now." Mom trudged forward with Grover half hanging on her torso. His eyes fluttered, but he didn't wake up.

"Foood." He moaned and I grabbed him waist, helping mom pull his weight.

"Grover shut up."

We were halfway up the muddy slope when another roar bellowed from the beast. I turned to look behind me.

Whatever it was, it was hunched over the Camaro, like it was sniffing it. I watched in horror as the beast took a mighty paw and crushed the car like a tin can. Balling it up like a baseball, the creature hurled it over it's shoulder like a piece of worthless trash. It sailed over 500 feet away from us and exploded in a ball of white flames.

' _If I see one scratch on the car…'_

Oops.

"Oh gods… This is bad." Mom muttered. "This is really really bad."

Lightning illuminates the air and my breath got hitched in my throat.

Where our car use to be, where the beast was standing, was the world's largest body builder. Thick biceps and triceps bulging out of his arms, blacken veins webbing their way to his heart. His entire upper body was covered in coarse brown hair… No. Not hair. _Fur_.

His head wasn't human, it looked more like a bull's head.

Something pulled at the darkest pits of my mind. The very first lesson Mr. Brunner taught us.

"That's…"

"Pasiphae's son. This is so not good."

"But… But he's not real…" I tried, but the moment I looked into my mom's eyes, I knew I was wrong.

"We need to get past the tree. We'll be safe there."

Before I could reply, I saw the bull man turn to face us. His bright white Fruit-of-the-Loom underwear were stained with a single streak of what looked like blood (or dirt, it was brown so you don't know.) His head tilted up and his nostrils flared out. The glowing bronze nose ring glitters in the light from the bolts of electricity in the air. His chest inflated and his left leg twitched.

"Mom he's going to charge."

Sure enough, he gets down on all fours and paws at the ground.

"Percy, he can't turn around. You have to jump to the side at the last moment."

"But-"

"This is not the time to argue with me Perseus." I flinched at the use of my full name. I closed my mouth and nodded.

Pasiphae's son shook his head and lunged forward, barreling towards the three off us. I took a deep breath in and rolled away from Grover and mom at the last minute, watching the bull-beast plow directly into an invisible wall.

Mom threw herself to the side, but Grover flew in a completely different direction. He sailed straight past the pine tree and disappeared over the hill. Mom tumbled back down the hill.

The bull shook off his potential concussion and turned towards mom. I stood frozen in shock as he launched at her.

In a flash of pale blue light, my mother evaporated the moment his hoof touched her body.

Anger boiled in my chest and my mind went blank except for one thought:

That son of a bull just killed my mom in the weirdest way possible, and I wasn't going to let him walk away from this.

I tore off the windbreak and waved it in the air.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" I shouted as loud as I could without my voice cracking. The bull-man turned to face me. I moved so my back was to the crest of the hill. "You know for a bull man, you aren't that smart. No wonder your mother didn't want you."

The bull howled in rage, and got ready to charge.

' _Percy'_ , a voice that wasn't mine rang through my head. It was the voice from that weird out-of-body experience I had in the car. ' _Get between him and the tree.'_

The bull charged. I waved the windbreaker and dove to my left at the last second. With a sickening crunch, I felt a bone in my leg snap. I didn't feel pain, I just felt pressure. A very uncomfortable pressure, but I stood back up anyways. Broken bone or not, I was now in between the pine tree and the bull.

"You missed. God, you're so bad at this. It's a miracle you can even move at all!" I taunted. Pasiphae's son roars, turning around to face me. I swore right then and there if it was possible for steam to come out of people's ears, it was coming out of his.

He charged once more, and my mind went blank once more. I ran towards the tree and parkoured up it flipping onto the beast's back right as he collided into the tree. His head was tilted, his left horn stuck between two branches. Somehow the tree didn't have any damage, but I wasn't focused on that.

How had he died before?

I couldn't remember. I growled in frustration and took hold of his horn, pulling back with all my might.

One moment passed.

Then another.

Suddenly, the bull stopped struggling. He grunted in surprise and I was sent flying backwards, off his body.

In my hand was a large foot-long horn with a sharp point. At the base it was jagged and bloody, some chunks of skin still clinging to it. I held it the same way you would hold a knife.

Unfortunately the force from such a move had freed him from his branchy trap.

I croaked out a laugh. He looked more like a monstrous unicorn than a monstrous bull. He bowed his head for one last charge. I stood tall and firm, watching him barrel towards me. At the very last second, i got down on one knee and thrusted my new weapon out in front of me. A sickening _crunch_ echoed in my ears, then _tsssssssssssssh._

Just as I had predicted, he exploded in a puff of yellow smoke, smelling like rotten eggs and burning flesh. I gagged and collapsed onto the ground, clutching the horn close to my body.

' _No. No you must get to the Big House.'_ The sweet voice whispered to me. ' _Get up, it's not much farther.'_

I coughed, watching blood drip out of my mouth. I stood up, shaking from the cold. I trudged up the hill, passing the tree.

"Thank you, whoever you were." I whispered. "You saved my life."

I stumbled to Grover, who was starting to wake up. Knowing him, it was going to be another hour before he became completely conscious. I lift him up to my shoulder, limping towards the farm below. A huge house stood tall and proud, looming closer with each painful step i took. The adrenaline was wearing off, and now I could feel every bone and blood vessel that had snapped. My mouth filled with a metallic taste that I recognized as blood. Within minutes I collapsed on the patio of the house. With a thud, I started to lose conscious. The lanterns flickered across my vision and I was vaguely aware of the sound of a door opening. Hushed voices fluttered in my ears, but I couldn't understand what they were saying until a faced popped into my vision.

A girl with blonde princess curls and lightly tanned skin bent over me. Her grey eyes inspected every bit of my face.

"He's the one, he has to be."

"Now now Annabeth," a familiar voice chided the girl. "We mustn't jump to conclusions like that. Get him to the infirmary."

And my world went black.


	5. Summer camp my a- no cursing? Fine

I don't remember much.

I mean, I remember the fight and all, but the next few days were a blur.

I may have woken up one or two times, but what I saw made no sense.

The first time I woke up, the girl was sitting across from me, spooning some weird popcorn flavoured pudding into my mouth. I hated the taste but I couldn't spit it out. She kept muttering 'What do you know of the solstice deadline' over and over under her breath, glaring at me.

The second time, I was alone. Well, not really, there was this blonde dude sitting in the corner watching me with a bunch of blue eyes freckling his skin.

Yeah. Not creepy at all.

When I woke up, like fully conscious, I saw Grover sitting across from me, slumped and half asleep. I propped myself up, struggling to sit up. My leg burned with pain and I couldn't breathe very well. I coughed, which woke up my half-goat friend.

"Hey, Perce," he yawned and sat up straight. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know, how do I look?" I leaned against the headpost and turned my body so I was perpendicular to him.

"Pretty bad…" He smiled nervously.

"On a scale of one to Nancy Bobofit, what do I look like?"

"Two steps below Nancy."

"Well… that's not good." I snorted and looked at the table beside me. There was a glass of what seemed like apple juice, the clear brownish-amber liquid cluttered near the top with ice cubes. It must have just been put there, because the glass was still dry.

"At least you don't like ketchup."

I wrinkled my nose at him. "Ew, why would you bring that up."

He laughed, but it was obviously forced. He was nervous about something, but I couldn't tell what it was. I look at the glass again.

"Is that yours?"

Grover laughed… no, not laughed. He bleated, the same way a goat does.

"W-what no, that's your's."

"But I hate apple juice." I deadpanned.

"It's not apple juice."

"If it looks like apple juice, chances are it's apple juice."

"Gods, Percy. SO dense."

I smirked and bowed my head. "I take high pleasure in barely being manageable."

"Just drink the nectar, Perce."

I raised an eyebrow at him and he gestured to the glass. Sighing in defeat, I picked up the glass and took a shaky sip.

I almost recoiled at the taste, expecting apple. True to Grover's words, it wasn't apple juice. Somehow they had figured out how to completely liquify cookies. It wasn't any cookies: it was my mother's homemade blue chocolate chip cookies. And the liquid was warm too, despite the many ice cubes in it. I gulped down the entire glass instantly, feeling warm and happy once I was done.

"How do you feel now?" Grover inched forward in his seat.

"Like I can throw Nancy Bobofit off the Empire State Building."

He broke into a smile, and not a nervous one. A true smile.

"Great! That's good, that means you should be able to walk now."

"Um, isn't my leg supposed to be broken?" I looked down at my leg, moving it a little. Weird, there was no pain. In fact, it felt perfectly healed.

What if…

I took a deep breath in and almost choked. There was no pain at all. How..

"Nectar. Drink of the gods… I'll explain it later, Mr. D told me to bring you to him the moment you could walk. It's about your… mother."

My heart shattered. "That… I thought that was a dream…" I look at my hands. The blood from that horn was gone, but there was a clean, white scar glistening in the palm of my left hand. I vaguely remember the pain that caused it - the horn slipped while I was carrying Grover to that house in the valley and cut my hand (pathetic, I know). Of course I stopped to pick it up, it was sitting on the table beside me, clean and polished as if it were some kind of artifact from a museum.

"Sorry Percy…"

"I-it's fine." I kept my voice as steady as possible. "I'm fine. Let's just get this meeting with this D guy over with."

I slipped my body off the bed, wobbling on my feet. The room was too comfortable to leave - I feared I'd never want to leave. The walls were made of a warm wood, probably lightly stained birch or maple, and the floor was the same. Instead of fabric, the curtains were made of thin strings of gold with light green and dark brown wood beads. Light gently poured in from outside, casting a golden glow on the already sun-kissed room. The bed was made with the same light green colour of the beads, white puffy pillows invited me to go back in. 'Come sleep with us,' they seemed to murmur. 'Forget about the word and sleep forever'.

I found myself inching back to the bed, but Grover put his hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my trance.

"Come on. We're already late."

He guided me out of the room, out into a meadow at the top of a small hill. I could clearly see the valley sprawled out around us. Strawberry fields littered the southern side of the valley, cabins on the other side like dots of black sand in a white field. The sea glittered happily in the sunlight right in front of me. It was high-noon, maybe 11:30. I heard music flowing through the air, laughter echoing as colourful dots dancing around at what seemed to be a volleyball court. Grover weaved me through the dirt paths, his hooves guiding him effortlessly towards the huge house at the center of it all.

It made sense. You know, Grover being part goat. The dude limped when he walked normally, but when he ran… well he could give Usain Bolt a run for his money (quite literally). He walked the same way a mountain goat did.

I found it hard to keep up with him. I kept stumbling, bumping into people with bright orange shirts that hurt my eyes, and almost taking wrong turns. He had to stop several times to allow me to catch up.

I got a flashback to the second week of school - when I met him.

" _Haha look girls. A guy who can't even walk right."_

 _Nancy stalks the length of the hallway to the kid cowering alone at a table in the corner of the room. His curly brown hair stuck out all over the place with twigs stuck in them._

" _Nice to meet you too." He looks down at his feet, a minor lisp hinting in his words. Nancy snickers and waves her hand at her girls._

" _Ha, he can't even TALK right!" She shrieks with laughter. "10 bucks says he's also partly blind."_

 _The boy blinks, not looking up at her. His chin trembled and I knew he was on the verge of crying._

 _I sigh and get up. "Hey Bobofit, why don't you go pick on someone who has the same level of stupidity as you. Oh wait, I don't think that's even possible." I glare at her, walking to stand next the boy._

 _Nancy wrinkles her nose. "Well well well, looks like Pretty Boy Percy's sticking up for a loser. Takes one to know one."_

" _At least I have an actual heart." I cross my arms. "Then again, I also have a brain. You know what… I think even Arnold Friesky wouldn't even kiss you for a million dollars. Don't blame him."_

 _Her face turned beet red. "You'll pay for this, Jackson." She hisses, turning on her heel and walking briskly to her desk on the other side of the room._

 _I watched her sit down in anger, then turned to the boy._

" _Hey, sorry you had to deal with her. Nancy's got no empathy whatsoever. I'm Percy." I offer him my hand._

" _Gr-Grover…" He takes my hand and smiles. "Grover Underwood."_

That day felt so long ago. In reality it was just under 9 months ago. That small, self conscious kid was currently navigating the dirt paths the same way I navigated the halls at school for him.

Oh how the tables had turned.

Five minutes later, we arrived at the largest house in the area - the house I had collapsed at after the fight with the bull man. It was a skyblue colour, with a white shingle roof that made it look like a gingerbread house my mom made once. There were fairy lights strung all over the place, providing a warm yellow-white glow to the deck.

The only thing that ruined to homey-cottage feeling was the man with the loudest purple shirt ever.

I'm serious. It was like staring at an illusion - there was no way something could be that bright. Not even with Tide®.

They guy himself wasn't impressive. He was stout with a smudged nose, dark purple eyes, coppery skin, and black hair. His clothes were a completely different story. He wore a neon-grape toned button up with a leopard print gold-fur jacket on (despite the fact it was at least 80 out), and swim shorts with dolphins and waves on them. He was covered in black hair - a unruly beard, thick chest hair peaking out from the spaces in the buttons, and leg hair long enough to strangle a man. Something told me that this was 'Mr. D'. Maybe D stood for 'Disastrous Makeover'.

There were two other people there.

There was the girl from the room - the one with the champagne-hued curls, gold-kissed skin, swirling thunderous grey eyes, and full has a splash of freckles over her small, curved nose and cheeks. She had a few scars on her chest, neck, and face; though that didn't take away from the fact she was beautiful… Woah, Percy. No crushes allowed yet, okay. You're still 12. Her eyebrows were furrowed together in concentration as she read a book. Next to her was…

"Mr. Brunner?" My jaw went slack. Right in front of me was my 6th grade Latin teacher.

He smiled. "Percy, so good to see you awake. We can finally talk to you." He folded his newspaper and gently placed it on his lap, atop the African Tribal blanket.

"Talk about what, exactly?" I looked between him and the table he was perched behind. "For the record, I haven't open my report card yet, so I have no idea what my grade is…"

"That's not what I meant, Perseus." His kind eyes sparkled in the light. "Please, take a seat."

He gestured to the two empty chairs (he doesn't point because then he'd "have three fingers pointing right back at me". Don't question him okay,) and I took a hesitant seat across from Mr. No Fashion Sense.

Grover grabbed the other chair and promptly sat down. He looked nervous, more so than usual, sweating up a storm.

"Glad to see you survived that nearly fatal attack you had a few nights ago."

"Wait… _a few nights?_ "

"Yes. You woke up faster than most do." He smiled grimly. "What do you remember?"

I let spill. From when Grover nearly tore down my door to collapsing on the porch. Something told me I shouldn't mention the weird voice, or the dream.

I probably should have.

When I was finished, Mr. Brunner nodded, a concerned look on his face.

"S-sir, he could be-"

"Now now, Grover. The likelihood…"

"Is rather high." Mr. D looked up from his wine catalog and finished Mr. Brunner's statement. "The kid looks exactly like him and you know it, Chiron."

The gears in my head swirled. I look at my teacher, now named Chiron, and the world spun.

Pasiphae… she was a wife to someone important in Greek mythology… And if they were real…

"You're Dionysus." I blurted out, startling the man in the purple shirt. I held onto his gaze.

"That was fast." He grumbled. "Usually I have to intro-"

"Purple is the typical colour of grapes." I pointed out. "You're holding a wine catalog, which implies the purple is a direct association to the wine. Not only that, you're wearing swim shorts with dolphins on them, your sacred animal. As well as that leopard jacket, that would be a sure sign that you are Dionysus, lord of wine."

Chiron smiled, obviously proud that I remembered all that. Honestly I was surprised _I_ remembered all of that. Mr. D frowned and placed his catalog on the table.

"He might not be." He muttered. "Too smart to be."

"Might not be what?" My eyes flicker to Grover, who was very nervous.

"Demigod." Chiron stated softly. "You're a demigod."

My mind clouded over. There was a moment of shared silence between the five of us, then the blonde looked up.

"He's not one of ours." She simply stated, then got up and trotted off towards some cabins in the distance.

"Well of course not, it's your dad who's a god, not your mom." Dionysus wrinkled his nose. "Though we may never find out."

"Sir… If you don't mind…" Grover's eyes flickered to the empty Coke can beside the wine god.

"Mh… Oh yes, sure." He flicked the can towards grover, who promptly picked it up and chomped down on the side.

"I thought you were vegetarian." I wanted to point out that cans weren't edible, but goats have iron stomachs so why wouldn't half goats? Grover looked up at me.

"Cans are vegetables…" He insisted, and I just shook my head.

"You are crazy…"

I look back at my teacher, well ex-teacher, who was glancing between me and Dionysus. Speaking of the dude in the purple shirt, he had just summoned a wine glass and a bottle of what looked like a ruby red wine of some sorts (probably expensive.) As he poured himself a glass, Chiron coughed into his jacket sleeve.

"My Lord, your restrictions…."

"Mh… Oh, silly me. Force of habit." he grumbled, and snapped his fingers. Instantly the glass shrank into a tiny red and white can. "There. Fixed." He sounded down, maybe agitated as well.

"Restrictions?"

"Oh yes, Dad wasn't happy with me. Off limits wood nymph…" He trailed off. "Well my punishment is staying here for 100 years. I'm barely 10 years in."

"Oh."

"Mhm, anyways, we must discuss this… unique situation. Chiron, if you could take Percy around camp while Grover and I talk?"

Grover trembled in his seat and shot me a silent plea.

' _Go with him, I'll be fine.'_

I didn't want to, but I got up and followed Chiron off of the porch and into the world of a summer camp that wasn't as summery campey as I thought.


	6. One order of exploding toilets coming up

Long story short.

Chiron is THE Chiron. You know, training of Herakles/Hercules and Jason, wise old centaur of Greece, son of Kronos the crazy cannibal titan lord of time.

Yeah, that's my 6th grade teacher.

Basically he's still half horse, just has a magical wheelchair that allows him to hide his more 'socially unacceptable' parts.

It was rather hard to look at him - a tall white stallion that with the upper half of a human for a neck. I was so used to looking down at him (which I highly advise against because the dude isn't fixed.) He towered over me by a few feet.

He strutted through the paths with me at his side, holding his bow in his hand with a quiver strapped to his back. The other kids, residents of this so called _summer camp_ , parted the way for us while Chiron showed me around. The camp had everything - a huge fire pit with a little girl happily tending to it (I wanted to go say hello, but Chiron was moving far too fast for me to even stop to take a breath). They had a volleyball court large enough for 50 per side, with campers in neon orange shirts tossing a shiny bronze ball around. The strawberry fields stretched over a good one-eighth of the land provided (Chiron informed me that with Dionysus here and his two kids, Castor and Pollux, that the strawberries grew healthy year round and generated all the income they needed). There was a camp store with swords, magazines, letter-supplies, and a bunch of clothes amongst a bunch of other things. There were 2 lakes and a river that led out to sea, along with a huge batch of woods that looked like it hadn't been touched since before the dinosaurs died off.

We passed a rock wall with lava pouring down part of it, a bunch of horse stables that were empty (Chiron stayed quite a ways away from it), and finally we wondered into the semi-circle of cabins.

There were 12 total, and all together they shaped into the letter U. None of them looked the same except for the huge bronze numbers on them - odds on the left, evens on the right (if you were looking at it from the ends on the U). We started at the curve of the U, were the two largest and less cabin-like buildings were at.

To my left was a gorgeously regal and almost frightening tall temple-like structure with simple white marble columns that extended up 2 stories. The lining of the base and top of the walls were solid gold with peacock feather bouquets that were expertly placed in locations to make it seem professional. In front of each column (there were 5 in front of the building total) were huge potted plants filled with lilies. Inside was a ivory and gold statue of a woman in a cloaked green dress of some kind, holding a scepter topped with a lotus in one hand and a pomegranate in the other, glaring down at the cabins in her view as if judging their lowliness.

To my right was an equally tall and regal temple, only it was different. It was still white marble with gold lining, but that was about it. The interior greeting room was much smaller and in the shape of a hexagon, with tiny oak-like trees in huge 5 foot diameter pots placed at each corner. There were 6 doors, including the entrance. Since the temple was rectangular (and the hexagon didn't extend to the full length of the exterior walls), I could tell the doors lead to either beds or more hexagon-like rooms. I wasn't eager to find out, because in the center of the room was a huge white marble and gold statue of a man dressed in a purple toga, holding a huge bronze jagged bolt in his left hand and a gold eagle perched on his right forearm, proudly holding his head high and gold eyes blazing in the light of day, seemingly glaring at everything else.

The rest of the cabins didn't belong. There was number 4 - one covered in plants and filled with kids in swirly tiedye skirts/short and orange shirts. They danced around inside, their hair the colour of moist soil or lush green plants, each one of them with the same smile. They were busying themselves, some sweeping the floor of their stone-pathed floor, some folding blankets, some watering plants that were too exotic to be there. They looked happy - like a family.

Number 3 was bare, but inviting. The stone walls were filled with shells and fossils, the smell of the ocean flowing out of the door. I couldn't help myself, I went straight for the door without a second thought.

It was like being in a trance - I hyperfocused on that smell. A memory from years ago flows back to me, like a vision in the desert.

 _A woman with long black hair stood over me, cooing… no, it was blonde…. Wait, red. It was red hair. A creamy white skin with light pink lips and red eyeliner… no, it was pink eyeliner and red lips…._

 _I couldn't tell, but the man next to her had dark polynesian-type skin and features, as well as eyes that matched mine. He was talking with a much younger mom._

" _... Are you sure?"_

" _Yes. He'll be safe as long as_ he _is around." Mom gestured to my left, but I was just a baby then. My mind was set on figuring out what that woman above me looked like. She cooed and brushed my cheek._

" _Blood of 2 of us, you'll grow up to be such a hero one day, my little Perseus."_

The vision faded away from me, evaporating in an nonexistent wind, and I found myself standing in the center of the cabin. All around me were empty beds covered in dust, the beds neatly made. The weirdest thing was the glass floor. Below me was an aquarium that was completely empty. The bottom of the tank was rocky and jagged, pieces of shells littering the entire span off the mini-mountains. It was easily 80 feet down, but I didn't feel dizzy looking down. A wave of calm washed over me and I smiled. Suddenly, a hand yanked me out of my daydream. I looked up at Chiron, who had somehow fit through the door.

"Come on Percy, we shouldn't be in here."

I looked down again, but nodded. I didn't want to leave the room, kinda like how I didn't want to leave that room in the infirmary.

I shuffled my way out of the door, resisting the urge to crawl into a ball and stay in there forever. It smelled like Montauk, reminded me of the place I called home.

We emerged out into the light of day, which was rather blinding.

Chiron hurried me past other cabins - a crimson red one filled with a bunch of buff kids more ugly that Nancy Bobofit, one perfectly constructed grey house that you'd expect a rich professor to live in, a solid gold house, a solid silver cabin, a factory-like cabin made of steel and rusted hinges, a bright pink barbie doll house with perfume visibly rolling out of the door, a cabin filled with grape vines with perfectly plump grapes, and a finally a rundown cabin that ACTUALLY looked like a summer camp cabin.

We stopped in front of the rundown cabin, number 11, where the girl with curls had relocated herself to. There was hardly any space for her to sit; so she was sitting on the railing,her back pressed against the supporting beam.

The cabin wasn't much - it was large but homey, with peeling brown paint and water-stained wood. The linings of the cabin was painting with a stale-kale green, and the number 11 had nailed on askew (much to my annoyance). A flag pole stuck out of one of the beams on the side. Where the flag should have been was two metal snakes, intertwined and forever immobilised in spray-painted steel.

A Caduceus.

There was a thick book in the blonde's hands, her hair falling down her back in a cascade of golden coils. Her eyebrows were knitted together in frustration as she mouthed out the words she was reading. The rest of the people looked nothing like her - some had pitch black hair, some had blue eyes, some had mischievous grins.

The cabin was filled with people of all ages - the youngest being 6, the oldest being 20. Everyone looked to be in a rush, hushed voices and quick movements. All of them had some sort of cleaning supplies in their hands

The moment someone looked up and saw us, silence rippled through the kids like a wave.

Instantly, the children all bowed, except the blonde girl (who was too engrossed in her book).

One of the older kids stepped forward, off the porch and onto the grass.

"Regular or undetermined?" He stated calmly, his pink lips glittering in the sunlight. There was a scar gracing his face, travelling from his left temple to his mid-left cheek, though it didn't disfigure his features too much. His blue eyes were soft but sharp at the same time, layered with all the colours of the blue sky above my head. His hair was sandy blonde, not quite sunny but not quite ashy. His skin was lightly sun-kissed, not overly dark but just tan enough to show he went outside regularly. He looked about 17, maybe a little older. He wore a bright orange shirt with a black pegasus and the letters 'CHB' written on it and dark blue jeans that shaped his body just right. Every muscle was smooth and well defined, showing an athlete's body-build that he must have worked his entire life to get. He was so tall and handso-

What the actual heck Perseus. No crushes allowed, I thought we went over this.

Okay, but this guy was seriously smoking. Not like cigarettes or anything, but he was drop dead gorgeous.

Chiron's voice snapped me out of my little daydream.

"Undetermined." his stated calmly.

50 voices groaned at once, like one weird symphony of kids.

"Come on seriously?" a girl with royal blue hair and starchy white skin rolled her eyes. I couldn't help but flint at her tone - cold, dark, and harsh. She was only 15, maybe 16, but she looked like she could kill a man.

"Another one?" A boy about 12 with dark skin and bright red hair sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. His coal-like eyes bore deep into mine and I felt like he could read my thoughts.

"We don't have th-" A kid with caramel hair and olive skin started, his red-tinted brown eyes pinning me back with a silent rage. I took a shaky step back, understanding that I wasn't wanted.

"Now now everyone, we must not complain." The godly-gorgeous man raised his left forearm up in a silencing manner. The kids all stopped chattering, turning to face him. He must have been well-respected amongst the children. "We take all in, traveller or sibling, and we give them a home…"

"Because our patron is Hermes, god of travellers." The kids droned out in monotones, some slumping in defeat.

"Exactly." The blue-eyed man smiled at me. "You must be Percy Jackson? The kid who slayed the Minotaur."

I couldn't find the words to speak, my mouth ran dry. The hottie was talking to me?

I just nodded, clutching the minotaur horn i was still carrying closer to my chest. He chuckled softly.

"I'm Luke, Luke Castellan. I'll be your cabin counselor until you get claimed."

"Or die." Someone scuffed behind him, hidden in the crowded.

"April, that's not very encouraging." A higher, more feminine voice deadpanned.

"Shut up Lillith, no one wants your speech about being positive." The girl with blue hair snapped.

"Guys, no fighting. Get back to cleaning." Luke instructed. The kids unfroze from their positions and continued cleaning.

"Luke, can I pull you aside?" Chiron frowned. Luke nodded.

"Hey Annabeth?"

The pretty blonde girl looked up from her book, her eyebrows still knitted together.

"Could you take care of Percy for me?"

Her cheeks flushed red and she bookmarked her book, slipping off the banister and onto the grass. Luke followed my centaur-teacher off towards the Big House. The girl, Annabeth, stalked up to me.

Her grey eyes darted all over my body - inspecting my hair and eyes as well as my shoes and jeans. He seemed like she was sizing me up, but not the way bullies did at school. More like the way a professor would inspect an anonymous sarcastic note.

She was gorgeous now that I was seeing her clearly. She had a light spray of freckles on her nose and cheekbones, her lips curved in an almost elegant fashion, not too full but not too slim. Her nose was turned up slightly at the end, giving her an owl's look. Her piercing grey eyes were streaked with white and coal, silver flaking their way into the groves of her irises every once and awhile. Her eyebrows were still knitted together in harsh concentration, the blonde hairs a little to light for her complexion. She has a slightly uneven tan - her left was slightly darker than her right - though that didn't seem to bother her.

I seemed to be what bothered her.

She sighed.

"Well?"

I blinked. "Wh-what?"

She wrinkled her nose a little and frowned. "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"What question?" I blinked in confusion. She sighed.

"I asked you-"

"Hey pretty boy, you're spot's right here!" A voice called out behind Annabeth. I looked behind her shoulder at the girl with blue hair. She pointed at a corner on the farthest left side of the cabin, where a 2 foot by 4 foot section had been cleared and a foam pad with a piece of paper folded on it. "Don't get too homey there, we swap sleeping areas once a week."

I shake my head once in a nod-like fashion so show I got the message, and she went back to work.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't mind Jassible, she's just upset. She's been at cabin 11 the longest."

"Hermes… You guys have patron gods, like the Greeks did?"

Annabeth snorted a little. "Not just patrons. Each cabin belongs to a different god, yes, but their residents…"

"Demigods. Children of the gods. Great, we're all walking Heracleses."

She glared at me even harder and I took a step back. Some kids who heard me from Cabin 11 snickered.

"You need to take this seriousl-"

"I am taking this seriously. Everyone here EXCEPT for the director-god and the 4 thousand year old centaur is a demigod." I crossed my arms. "I'm guessing each cabin here houses their children. Looks like Hermes was busy…"

Annabeth's face boiled red and some of the kids stopped working. I noticed a shared looked amongst many of them - sadness.

"Not all of them are Hermes… some are… undetermined." Annabeth hissed, taking my wrist and dragging me towards the center of the field. "Come on we're going-"

"Ow, okay seriously, what's the matter."

"You can't just assume that all of them know their parents. Do you know your dad?"

"No, but-"

"No buts!" She sighed. "Most of those kids don't know their parents. They've been waiting to be claimed since they came here, some have been waiting for a decades."

My heart dropped. "You mean they don't ever find out who their godly parent is?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond, but she didn't have the chance.

"Hey Blondie!" a large girl with stringy brown hair, smudged nose, red-brown eyes, and coppery-white skin that was patchier than cracked paint appeared in front of us. Her choice in clothes were an odd statement - a gleaming red-tinted bronze breastplate was draped over her neon orange shirt, jeans that were black and red camo with 15 fully stuffed pockets, and black Nike's with dark patches of brown on it. Something told me that the patches weren't dirt.

"Clarisse." Annabeth' look turned stone cold.

"This the newbie?" She snorted at me, her eyes glaring me down.

"Who's asking." I glare right back at her.

"Percy, this is Clarisse, daughter of Ares." Annabeth crossed her arm and shifted her weight, her piercing grey eyes shifting dangerously between me and Clarisse.

"As in the war god?" My voice faltered in mild shock.

Clarisse smirked. "You gotta problem with it, Pretty Boy?"

"Yeah, it explains the bad smell." I wrinkled my nose. "And the look of total defeat on your face."

She growled. Annabeth stepped between us.

"Don't you have spears to polish, Clarisse." She points her thumb and index finger towards the ugly red cabin.

Clarisse's smirk widens into a sadistic grin. "Yeah, so I can run them into your stomach this Friday."

" _Erre es korakas!_ " Annabeth shouted out and I flinched. Somehow I had perfectly understood what she said. _Go to the crows._ She called Clarisse an idiot. "You'll never stand a chance against us."

Her voice was sharp and stern, and even Clarisse flinched. Her smile flickered for a moment, before regaining her confidence.

"What, because you have some wimp undetermined on your side? News flash, wise girl, but the guy has no training. All he did was slay the Minotaur."

"And what have you done? Talk and eat shi-"

"Enough, we're going." Annabeth reaches for my wrist, but I jerked away from her.

"Oh, no. He hasn't even gone through initiation." Clarisse took a step forward

Before I knew it, I was being dragged by my hair towards a building to the west - an outdoor bathroom stall and toilet house.

Great, just my luck.

I dropped my minotaur horn and struggled to be let go. I kicked, punched, scratched, and screamed, but she was not going to let go.

My head throbbed with pain as my nose filled with the smell of Mildew and Clorox, and I almost gagged. I was twisted across the ground and forced to kneel. I stared down at a stainless-steel toilet that reeked also as badly as Smelly Gabe did.

"He's so weak!" I heard someone laugh behind me. "I bet the Minotaur died of laughter instead of being killed by him."

A crowd burst into laughter also with the voice. Clarisse hissed softly in laughter.

"Why don't we take a little swirly, Prissy."

"No." I state firmly.

She laughed louder this time.

"Ya heard that, guys? He said no!"

The crowd roared with even more laughter and Clarisse pushed my head closer to the water.

I was not going to pushed around, or pushed down in this case.

"I. said. _**NO**_." The last word was a roar. I poured all my anger into it.

Something strange happened. A pull in my gut, like I was in a 60 mph freefall on a rollercoaster ride. A rattling noise filled my ears and Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened dramatically. Then the toilets exploded.

Water sprayed over my head and I turned just in time to see the jet hit Clarisse's face, the water pouring into her mouth and going up her nose. The pressure of the blast of icy sewer-like water sent her flying backwards, into the crowd of campers who had gathered to water the 'initiation'. Unfortunately for them, the other toilets had targeted their streams of toxic-water at them, leaving them covered in the foul substance.

I stood up and the water stopped streaming out of the toilets. Clarisse stood up shaking, a piece of wet toilet paper stuck on her cheek and some in her hair.

"You-you-"

"I'd watch what you'd say next, Claire," I straightened my posture and glared at her. "Or I'll make sure you gurgle more toilet water."

She tried to lunge at me, but two guys held her back. Something told me that those two were her brothers. They dragged her back to their cabin as she went into a foul-mouth rage, water flying from her hair and hands as she throw threats towards me.

Annabeth's mouth hung open as she stared at me from the entrance. She clutched my Minotaur horn in her hands and her blonde hair was drenched and swept violently to one side, making her look like a cartoon character. She still looked very pretty though, somehow.

"Why are you staring at me like that."

That's when I noticed I was perfectly dry.

The entire floor was flooded, the walls covered in pieces of fatality-toilet paper. The kids were all dripping wet. Me? I had a 2 foot diameter of completely dry tile floor and not one drip or one sheet of toilet paper was on me. I didn't smell like sewage either. It was like the water didn't want to touch me.

"I… Oh gods…" She murmured. She seemed to realise that her mouth was hanging open and she regained her posture. The look of shock drifted off her face and was replaced by determination.

"I think I know exactly what to do with on during Capture the Flag."


	7. Of sword fights and - wait what?

The days passed by slower than molasses in winter time, and it's almost summer. I fell into a routine schedule, like clockwork. I got a top bunk when they cycled the sleeping arrangements (which had nothing to do with me drenching everyone is toilet scum), and I learned how to properly make a sacrifice to the gods.

Life was actually quite nice… until Thursday came around.

After the Clarisse incident of Monday, everyone has been on their toes around me. They seemed anxious, looking over the top of my head whenever I tried to talk to them.

The only person who wasn't doing that was Luke. He was more desperate with trying to figure out who my godly parent was.

He took me to the archery range (where even the _trees themselves_ ran away from me. How I managed to impale Luke standing 30 feet behind me still confuses me). He took me to the lava wall, where I burned myself at least 3 times and broke 2 bones. We went to the strawberry fields, where ants tried to bury me alive (don't ask).

Everything I did, I failed at miserably. Except for Language Classes and Canoeing, though I highly doubt that gave a clear sign on what my godly parent was. I started to think that maybe this was all some kind of joke. That my father was sitting and watching me fail, laughing silently.

So when sword-fighting class came along, I expected to be beaten.

"How does this one feel?"

I tried to raise my arm but nothing happened. Luke frowned and gently took the 4 foot long sword away from me. He swapped it out with a slightly shorter one.

"Try this one."

I sighed and lifted this one up. My wrist tilted a little down, the blade just felt so wrong in my hands.

"I guess this one would have to do for now." Luke smiled comfortingly. I tried not to blush.

' _The guys is 5 or so years older than you,_ ' my brain screamed at itself. ' _You can't have a crush on him_ '.

I fiddled with the straps of my new armour. I felt weighed down, as if there were 50 pound bag of sand that were soaking in water being placed all over my body. It was suffocating.

There were snickers from the crowd of kids at the bleachers viewing the small arena. Today was a joint-cabin day with the Aphrodite kids, the 10 or so kids who weren't the slightest bit interested in learning how to fight. And, of course, newbies go first in everything.

I was victim number one… I mean, the first to practice.

Luke was my opponent.

Great, I'll die of embarrassment and sexual confusion.

"Don't worry, he might go easy on you." One person tried to say, but he couldn't finish the sentence without laughing.

"Lets see you strike." Luke instructed, guiding me to the center of the ring. I tried to swing my sword, but he easily deflected it, sending it clattering across the floor.

I picked it up and tried again, with the same affect that happened before.

And I tried again.

And again.

Each time it was the same result, no matter where I was aiming.

I started getting frustrated. I found myself wanting to win, wanting to make _his_ sword clatter to the floor, not mine.

After an hour of endless failed attempts, Luke called a break. By this time, everyone got so bored at watching me try that they started training themselves. Some worked on dummies, others trained with a partner. And of course the Aphrodite kids weren't training. They cluttered around magazines and beauty kits, doing each other's makeup and nails. Somewhere down the line they even the a hair circle, which was kinda like a hair train except they sat a little sideways so they can form a circle. You'd think the name'd be very obvious.

We all broke off to get a drink of water. I wasn't thirsty, but Luke handed me a cup anyways. I remember what my mom use to do when we would go for early morning runs at Montauk - she would take a cup of icy cold water and dump it on her head to help dilute the sweat.

I took the cup of lukewarm water and dumped it all out on my head. The water trickled down my spine, making me shiver a little from the tickling sensation. Some kids looked over at me in shock, but I shrugged it off.

Suddenly my whole body tingled, and I felt like I just woke up after a perfect night's rest. My heavy breathing turned normal, the weight of the overkill greek armour suddenly didn't feel so heavy, and I felt a surge of strength.

"Okay everyone, gather around! It's time I taught you how to disarm your opponent." Luke's cheerful voice echoed through the crowd. "Percy, if you coul-"

"Yeah, whatever." I sighed and got back into the ring, grabbing the torturously unbalanced sword and getting back into the attack position. The kids watched Luke and me curiously, eager to watch how he could disarm me so easily.

I think it's just because I can't fight very well, but I'll let you decide what to believe.

"Now no laughing at Percy. This is a technique that has been used against me many times and took me years to learn. Even I'm not perfect at it."

Some chuckles filtered through the crowd of kids. He demonstrated the move in slow motion: a simple point-to-hilt twist that forced the opposer to drop his sword. Sure enough my wrist twisted painfully and I instinctively let go. The blade clattered to the ground again.

"Now let's do a live demonstration. First person to perform the move wins."

I snatched the blade up and took a wild swing. A look of mild amusement cross Luke's face and he went up to deflect the blow, but this time I saw it coming. I forced the blade to go up, hitting the tip of his blade and carved a thin scratch across his breast plate. Without stopping to take a breath, I spun around and hit Luke's exposed side with the flat of my blade. He stumbled, his face morphing into one of concentration. The crowd of kids went completely silent, and I had a feeling it was because I hadn't lost yet.

I spun and swung, flighting Luke with a grace I didn't know I had. However I felt the blade growing more heavy with each swing. I knew I was going to drop it soon.

So what the hell?

I tried the technique on Luke.

My blade-point connected with the hilt of his, and I violently twisted my sword. His hand flew open and his blade was sent scattering to the floor with a long 'cling' sound.

He stood there in shock and I couldn't help but smile.

I looked back at the Hermes Cabin to see the Aphrodite kids in the front, awestruck.

"Uh…" my smile faded. "Sorry?" I dropped my sword, which had grown unbearably heavy.

Luke stood with his jaw slack. "Sorry? Percy, that was incredible!"

My cheeks burned red and I looked down at my feet.

"Gods I wonder what would happen if you had a perfectly balanced blade." The hot blond said. "I want to see you do it again."

I didn't want to do that again. I felt bone tired, and that I could just drop to sleep at any moment.

"No… no thanks." I mumbled just loud enough so he could hear me.

"Percy, I wasn't aski-"

"I said no." I snapped, looking back up at him. He blinked in confusion.

"Per-"

A thought bubbled to life in my head.

' _What if…'_

"Luke, sit down." I demanded. He paused mid-word.

"W-what-"

"Sit. Down." I demanded, a little slower this time. I corrected my posture, standing up straight and calmly looking at him. Black and yellow dots danced across my vision but I pushed it aside. I poured as much emotion into my voice as I could. My accent thickened dramatically. "Sit down and put your sword next to you."

To my surprise, it actually worked.

Luke's body took over and he sat down, placing his sword at his side. He had a baffled look on his face told me that he didn't want to sit down.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

"How did I…" I trailed off, then my world went black.

Ȣ

When I woke up, I was in my bunk at Cabin 11 in night clothes. The light of the setting sun bathed the room with a rosey-gold hue, making the countless sleeping bags and personal items look like precious metals. Luke sat on his permanent bunk (as councilor of the cabin, he doesn't have to interchange his sleeping spot), reading a book.

I tried to sit up and moaned in pain, causing Luke to jerk his head upwards.

"I wouldn't try to move, Perce," he said calmly, standing up and putting his book down spine up. "Whatever you did is going to make you-"

"I'm fine," I snapped, forcing myself to sit up. My eyes danced with black and white dots, a sickly feeling in my gut churned and made me want to puke. I leaned against the wall beside the bunk and tried to blink away the queassiness.

Luke suddenly appeared next to me, cross legged on the bunk bed with a bottle of water and a damp towel.

I tried to push him away but the moment he put the towel on my forehead, my vision started to clear. I relaxed, closing my eyes.

A few moments passed.

"Percy?"

I hummed softly and opened my eyes, looking over at the blond. Luke frowned at me.

"That wasn't a proper answer…"

"Mhkay, so?" My accent thickened dramatically, much to my annoyance. Luke raised his eyebrow.

"What's with the accent?"

I groaned. "Seriously? There are literally 50 million other questions you can ask me. Like, oh I don't know, 'What's your favourite colour, what's your favourite animal, who do you want your father to be-"

"Mother."

I paused. "Whut."

Luke frowned even more. "Your godly parent is your mother."

"Last I checked, Mister Fruit-of-the-Loom Bullman killed my mom. Can't kill an immortal, mate."

"You might be fostered…"

"I was born in a cabin at Montauk Beach. Luke, my mom is a mortal."

Luke sighed. "Are you sure-"

"It was on video. I am very sure that Mom is my mom." I deadpanned

Luke started coughing. "I'm sorry, you said it was on video."

"Yep. Lots of people videotape their children's birth. It's so-"

Luke's face shifted into one of pure horror and I snickered.

"Okay, no more… but seriously, what is with the accent?"

I thought more a moment, then shrugged. "Dunno. I was kinda… born with it, I guess you could say. Maybe my dad is the god of scones and tea?"

Luke snorted. "I don't think there's a god for that. Besides, your powers screa-"

"Luke?"

A new voice echoed through the room. Jassible's face poked up from the railing at the bunk.

"What is going on here?" She raises an eyebrow. Her voice was one similiar to teasing, directing her gaze at Luke.

"What is it, Jaz" Luke sighed, turning his body to face her.

"Anne-beth is getting antsy. She wants to know if Percy's okay."

"He's fine."

"Is he good enough for the game tonight?"

Luke thought for a moment, and my brain finally caught on.

"Wait, it's Friday?" I cut Luke off of whatever he was going to say.

Jassible smirked. "'Course it is, punk. Whaddya think it was?"

"Thursday." I frowned at her, blushing because my accent was still going embarrassingly strong.

"Give him a break, Jaz, he just woke up" Luke sighed.

"Mhm, I'd believe it if it was sworn on the Styx." Jassible laughed, leaving me confused.

"Just go tell Annabeth that Percy'll be ready for the game."

Jassible rolled her eyes and disappeared from my view, the cabin door shutting softly and the room getting darker. Pink and red streaked the floor now, showing that dinnertime was almost over. My stomach growled.

"C'mon kid. Let's get you some dinner."

Ȣ

"Alright Blue team!" Annabeth shouted. Even for a 12 year old girl, she can be quite terrifying. "Ares cabin is fighting for the flag tonight, with Aphrodite, Apollo, and Dionysus cabin on their side. We fought long and hard to get it back. If you lose, I will subject each and every one of you to the worst chores here."

The entire crowd shivered under her stormy gaze. Luckily for me, I was standing next to Annabeth, and not in front.

"Now, Team 2, you're defense. Isabel and Katie from the Demeter cabin will be flag patrol. Team 3 will take left flank, Team 1 will be with me on right flank. Everyone else is creek patrol."

Everyone nodded in perfect unison, immediately rearranging themselves into their teams. Those who didn't have a team, basically anyone who came here after the last game, were guided over to Chiron for weapons.

"Awh Percy, glad to see you awake." The kind, old centaur tried for a smile. I just looked up at him with a poker face.

"Is everything alright?"

"Do you… Do youu think mom is my actual… mom?" I whispered softly. Chiron raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think she wouldn't be?" He looked down at me.

"Luke… Luke thinks my godly parent is a goddess, not a god." My voice cracked.

The thought for a moment. "Did he tell you why the thought that?"

I shook my head and picked up a dagger, inspecting it. Too short, very unbalanced. No good for me.

"He started to say why, but Jassible came in."

He sighed. "Very well. I'll talk to Luke about it after the game…" Chiron handed me a blue helmet with a blue plume on it, like the kind you'd see Athena wearing in battle paintings. "Don't pass out on us, okay?" His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Very funny." I grumbled, taking a sword that was obviously way too light for me and shuffled off back towards the blue team.

Luke offered a small smile from Team 3, tightening someone's armour. Annabeth glowered at everyone on the red team, the calculating look in her eyes almost as terrifying as the 3 ladies with the scarf. I tried to edge around her, but the moment she saw me her eyes widened.

"Percy!"

 _Great, now I'll have her breathing down my neck too._

"Yes?" I turned to face the grey-eyed beauty.

"How are you feeling?" She waded her way towards me.

I placed a smirk on my face. "Who's askin? The pretty girl or the terrifying daughter of war."

"Both, you idi- Wait what?"

"Nothing. I'm feeling fine." I lied. Annabeth narrowed her eyes, her eyebrows crunching together in confusion.

"Yeah right. You fainted twice in a week, that's not normal."

"Yeah, well neither is having a god as a parent." I snapped, my cheeks reddening. "Or watching your mother get murdered in front of you."

"Percy, we all understand that you've got some things wrong with your life. Me? I haven't seen my father since I was 9. I ran away from home when I was 7." She hissed.

"Wait… what?"

Annabeth opened her mouth but someone hit a cong, shattering all conversation in the crowd.

"Campers! Listen up!" Chiron clomped his hoof against the marble slab. "The boundary line is the creek. No more than 2 people guarding the flag, prisoners can be disarmed but NOT bound or gagged, flags must be hidden in plain sight, and all magically items are allowed. Maiming or harming an opponent will result in a penalty…" Chiron rambled off many more rules that floated in and out of my head like balloons.

The cute Athena child nudged me forward, into the thick woods for the death match…

"Wait, I'm on creek duty?!" Annabeth smirked at me.

"Course you are, what did you think seaweed for brains?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe I'd get something simple. Like, water dispenser." I deadpan.

"Gods, Percy, this spot is okay. It could be worse. You could be out hunting for the flag."

I glare at her and she laughed. "Good luck, seaweed brain."

She yanked out a hat from her back pocket, a navy blue one with a familiar logo on it. Before I could identify it, she pulled it on her head and rippled out of existence.

"Great, you have an invisibility cap. Of course you do."

"Shut up and patrol. I'll be back."

I heard a rushed _crunch crunch crunch_ heading east, over the river and through the woods.

And I was left all alone.

I spent at least 20 minutes pacing up and down the river. I had a lot to think about.

How many times something strange and unexplainable things had happened in my life. Like the one eyed man in 3rd grade who was spying on me on the playground. Or the snakes I strangled to death with my bare hands at daycare.

I thought about how my mom wouldn't talk much about dad…

Or the fact she never ever said 'him' or 'he' or 'his' when she talked about him.

Was it possible…

A twig snapped. Instantly, I turned to face behind me. A cold feeling shivered down my spine and I thought I saw a shadow move.

I held my breath, gripping my sword tightly in my hand. Luke said something to me earlier this week… about the woods being filled with monsters. I hope he was joking.

"Hey Prissy!"

Internally, I groaned. I turned on my heel to face a group of 3 - a scouting team. The cold feeling burned away.

"What do you want, Clarisse?" I deadpan. "Flag's further south."

The grin on her face was almost enough to make me step back, but after these past few weeks, I wasn't phased.

"Oh, we aren't here for the flag. We're here to pummel your face into the ground." To emphasize 'pummel' she curled her right fist and punched it into her left palm, cracking her knuckles.

"Cool, glad to know that."

She blinked, shock filling her features for a split moment. "You're not going to fight back?"

I shrugged. "No, I will. I just don't give a shiiii…" I bit my tongue and the other two snickered.

"We got ourselves a foul-mouther." Ugly Number One chuckled, off towards Clarisse's left. "If Chiron found out-"

"As if he'd care." Ugly Number Two rolled his eyes. "We'll just deal with him ourselves."

 _Great_ , I thought. _Just what I need. More blood._

Clarisse grabbed a stick from her belt and snapped it in her fingers. Instantly, a red light exploded from the twig and it expanded to a 6 foot look shaft with a deadly point on the top. A spear.

The tip flickered with electricity. Great, just my luck. "Come on, Pretty Boy Prissy. Let's see if you really are 'Big Three Material'."

She charged.

Ȣ

What happened next was a little blurred. The first half of the fight was being sucker-punched and flying around, with the other two somewhere in the back…

Wait, I think that's lyrics to a song… Honestly I don't know, I don't pay attention to those kind of things.

Anyways, it went something like this:

Clarisse slashed and spun, and every time the tip hit me I felt like hot iron was being pressed all over my body. The taste of ozone filled my mouth, the hairs on my neck standing on end. I fought back, but I wasn't exactly a sword pro… Even that weird fluke from the training session yesterday was gone, flung out the wind without a second thought.

Then, somehow, I was flung into the creek.

I expected to drown. I expected to have Clarisse's fist pushing my head down into the mud.

I did not expected, however, to be brought back to land on a wave.

All around me were a swirling mass of bubbles in clear water, giggles echoing around me like the bubbles were popular girls fawning over a hot actor. The water gently nudged me back onto land in a wave tall enough for surfers to be excited about.

I landed on my feet in ankle deep water, with Clarisse and the uglies gawking at me.

My body went into autopilot. I slashed with my sword, battling all 3 uglies at once.

 _Scratch, Tssssk, Bang._

I felt warmth crawling down my arm, the horribly familiar feeling on hot iron against my skin vibrating my brain. I turned and grabbed Clarisse's spear, catching a glance at the dangerously deep cut in my arm. That one's gonna leave a mark…

Without looking back at her, I brought the shaft down on my knee.

 _Crack!_

The spear broke in half, and I drove the spearheaded end into the ground, where the electricity was sparking like crazy.

"You… you…"

"Game's over, Clarisse."

A new voice startled me back into reality. I turned and say… nothing.

"Annabeth Chase… I should have known." Clarisse growled. The two uglies were laying face first on the ground beside her. Had… had I really did that?

Annabeth rippled back into existence, her cap in her hand. "Simple war strategy, Claire. Distraction leads to failure."

Team one burst through the woods, cheering. Luke vaulted off a rock, scaling over the 15 foot wide creek, and landed with a perfect somersault.

The flag in his hands rippled from a nasty blood red to a creamy brown-gold.

In the middle was an elegantly painted caduceus.

The sound of a conch horn ripples through the air, signifying that the game has been won.

That's when everyone noticed the nasty cut on my arm.

"Gods, Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth rushed forwards, grabbing my arm.

I couldn't help it. I smiled.

"Yeah, it's pretty deep, innit?"

"What are you talking about? It's barely a scratch."

I blinked. "What?" I glanced back down at my left shoulder.

Sure enough, the gash was already halfway healed. My arm was covered in blood, my shirt halfway soaked with it, but the gash was so tiny…

"Percy, step out of the water." Annabeth's voice turned low, must darker and more serious than before.

"But…"

"Just, do it."

I took a shaky step out of the water, immediately collapsing forwards. Annabeth caught me as people gasped all around.

A crowd of kids had gathered on the red side of the creek, along with Chiron. I could barely make them out, everyone a weird blur of colours.

"Chiron…" Luke trailed off.

"Annabeth, guide him back to the water." The kind voice of our fellow centaur friend chided.

Annabeth didn't think twice. She shoved me backwards, and I fell onto my back, straight into the creek.

Gasps rippled through the air when the water caught me and brought me back to a standing position. I could feel gentle pressure on my back, like the water were hands that were supporting me.

I swayed slightly, my vision clearing. The glow from the magical flames in Chiron's hands made everyone look terrified.

A roar rippled through the air and everyone reached for their weapons.

I turned around just in time to catch the glimpse of the enormous dog bounding towards me.

"Hellhound… Archers, aim for the neck!" Chiron's voice turned stern, more warlike. Instantly, the sounds of strings being pulled back from the Apollo kids. Even though there were only 6 of them, they could shoot 5 arrows at once.

Instantly 30 celestial-tipped arrows soared through the air, straight at the hellhound. Something turned in my gut and I knew that the hellhound wasn't going to be affected by the arrows.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE." My voice rippled through the air, a sweet richness curling its way into my accent. I reached out my left arm, towards the hellhound.

And the creek exploded.

A roar erupted from deep within the hellhound's throat, and the water trashed around the creature like a nasty washer-machine cycle.

In one terrible moment, i felt like I was going to pass out.

Instead, I stood my ground and watched the hellhound burst into green flames, then crumble into dust. The water, acting with it's own mind, settled back into the creek and lazily flowed back into it's former state, as if nothing had ever happened.

The campers were silent.

Annabeth's small voice broke through the thick night.

"What just…"

A rosy red glow filled my vision and the crowd gasped once more. I could have sworn I heard some snickers too.

I turned to face the crowd, only to find the gawking at me.

"Whut?" My accent thickened, and I raised an eyebrow.

Then I realised that the glow was coming from _me_.

I looked down and…

"What the-"

Well… I'm not proud of it, but I dropped the f-bomb.

I was glowing like the cheekbones on Rihanna. Instead of my heavy armour and ridiculously neon shirt and cargo jeans, I was wearing a sweet green achiton, better known as himation, with silver hemming glittering in the odd light emitting from me. I lifted up the bottom half of my 'cloak' to inspect my feet. Sure enough, my rugged reeboks were replaced with silver and white greek-style leather sandals with thick soles. I felt… well I don't know how I felt, since nothing like that has ever happened to me before.

"Um… guys?" My voice was small. I looked back up to find everyone was trying, and failing, to not look at me.

"It has been claimed." Chiron's voice was grim. Slowly, like a wave, the campers knelt into a bow.

"My… my dad?"

"Your mom," Chiron corrected, leaving me confused. "All hail Perseus Jackson, Son of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

And then, I blacked out.


	8. When life hands you a satyr

I woke up on the world's softest mattress, curled in sheets that felt like little kisses on my skin. My eyes fluttered open to a bunch of girls bending over to look at me, cooing and whispering excitedly.

"Um… Hi?" I croaked out.

Bad idea.

Instantly, I was crashed with 30 million questions. All the words went through one ear and out the other.

"Girls, leave the poor kid alone." A warm voice gently chided. The girls just giggled and scattered out of my vision to reveal a… pink wall.

 _Oh gods._

 _I'm in the_ _ **Barbie Doll House**_ _._

I struggled to sit up. I felt sore all over, as if I had ran 50 miles yesterday. My vision blurred dramatically, and my stomach twisted like I had the throw up.

A pair of gentle hands helped me up into the sitting position.

"Gods, is he okay?" a girl whispered, out of my line of sight.

"I mean, he did just battle a hellhound…" a boy replied back, even softer.

"How did he even do that?" another voice, female again, murmured.

"Children, Percy's still waking up. Why don't you get him some clothes?" The voice closest to my ears stated sweetly.

Squeals ripped through the air and the sound of scampering feet echoed all around me. My head pounded, and I could faintly make out the sound of a slamming door.

Great, my family is a bunch of fangirls.

I felt something cool touch my forehead. My vision cleared. I reached up to feel what the weird voice put on my head. My fingers brushed against something cool and fluffy, but stiff at the same time. Water trickled down the side of my face and I shivered softly as my spine tingled again.

Damp Towelette.

"Hey, Percy, how are you feeling?" I turned to face the girl.

She was drop dead gorgeous, like the way a supermodel would look after she washed off her make-up. I didn't even blush, or stutter, or whatever… because I just wasn't attracted to her. She had soft brown eyes that could make any situation calmer, deep coffee-bean toned skin that glittered in the right with a rosy hue, and a thin layer of hair on her scalp with a beautiful floral design gently shaved into existence. She had that face that could have been 16 or could have been 30 and you'd never know. 4 beads hung around her neck, signifying she'd been here for 4 years.

"What happened?" I whispered. "I don't understand… How…"

She cupped my face. "Dear, it's okay. When the other's get back we'll do introductions… I'm Daisha."

"Die-sh-la?"

She giggled. "Oh, sorry, forgot about the accent. Call me Day."

I nodded. Her voice sounded sweet and slightly rugged, a foreign accent of some sorts.

I tried to place my finger on it.

Daisha laughed again. "Haitian." I blinked, shocked. "If the man Mom fell in love with knew she was Aphrodite, the child would get an accent." She explained. "You got British, I got Haitian. Usually it's based off of ancestors, but in some cases it's just Mom being Mom."

"You're Haitian?"

"Indeed I am." She smiled, her pearly white teeth showing. "And you're British?"

"Polynesian…" I frowned. "Though a lot of people say I act British. Usually when they tell me that, I throw stale scones at them."

She snorted, holding back her laughter. Her eyes glittered with amusement. I smiled back.

That's when chaos hurricane number 2 blew in.

10 other children, all from the ages of 13 to 19, poured in from outside with hangers of clothes dangling from their arms. Like a twister, they pooled around me and dragged me off the the bathroom for a 'makeover'.

Ȣ

I spent 3 days in hell.

In a pink, glittery, shiny, perfume-choking _hell_.

No one took me seriously anymore. I mean, they wouldn't say it to my face, but they smirked and snickered behind my back, going ' _I bet the Minotaur was just a cover story to make him look buff. No son of Aphrodite could slay anything.'_

People started to resent me. I'd get anonymous item's that'll be something like neon lipstick or the latest overdramatic CD for some hot reality tv show.

Someone went as far as to send me a newspaper with an article highlighted in red.

 _ **BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**_

 _BY EILEEN SMYTHE_

 _JUNE 10TH, 2005_

 _Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road in terrible condition. The car had somehow flipped and rolled itself into a snowball shape before exploding, according to police reports. The mother and 12 year old son were on vacation, but hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found 200 feet away from the car, but there are no other trances of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the area claimed to not seen anything usual during, before, or after the time of the accident. Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy, is a troubled child who had been kicked out of several schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past. Police would not say whether Percy is a suspect in this mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally and Percy Jackson. Police urge that anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline below._

Someone had coloured in my face with bright pink and filled the portrait with gel-marker made hearts. I took the paper and shoved it underneath my mattress when no one was looking.

The whole experience drove me nuts. I avoid my siblings as much as I could. I trained all by myself with as many weapons as I could. I got frustrated, snapped at everyone, and was on the brink of insanity.

Even Annabeth couldn't take me seriously. Ever since the night of capture the flag when I started to randomly glow, Annabeth couldn't look at me with a straight face. She'd turn bright red and start to laugh at me every time she saw me.

Yeah, _thanks a lot for that mom_.

I knew it was only a matter of time before I was called down to the Big House. So it wasn't much of a surprise when the knock on the door was for me.

I opened the door to the cabin with a toothbrush in my mouth.

"Can I help you?" I slurred, toothpaste dripping down my chin. It sounded more like 'curn ey hurp oo', but I didn't care.

Grover blinked in confusion. "Um, Percy… you have a little-"

I pulled to toothbrush out of my mouth. "Yeah, I know." I wiped my chin with the back of my hand. "Gimme a moment… Why don't you come in?"

His eyes darted nervously behind me. "Uuuuh…"

I shrugged. "Don't blame you. My siblings are…" I crossed my eyes and made a loco loop with my finger.

Grover nodded in timid agreement. "Um, well get dressed… Mr. D wants to talk to you."

I sighed, told Grover to hide in a bush if he wanted to avoid an involuntary makeover, and finished getting ready.

By the time I was finished, I had avoided 3 curling irons, 7 magazines, 2 tubs of hair dye, and one tuxedo.

Seriously, it's a chore living in Cabin 10.

I tried my best to make the blessing not show.

What blessing, you might ask?

Oh, that rose-glow? That's known as the 'Aphrodite Blessing'. It can be given numerous amounts of times, and can last up to a month.

Basically, she zaps you with beauty. Instantly, your pores get cleared, your skin evens out in tone, your eyebrows get perfectly trimmed, your hair is always well-groomed, and you look like you belong on the cover of a magazine.

I've tried smearing mud in my hair, dumping loads of hair gel in it, putting burger grease on my cheeks, smeared 5 different shades of foundation on my face, even cut a massive chunk of hair off.

Nothing worked.

My skin would magically smooth out again. My hair would repeal everything I tried to put in it. It would even grow back to normal.

With my luck, it would last the full month.

I met up with Grover in the middle of the green, a few yards away from my cabin. The look in his eyes reminded me of a caged animal - skittish, terrified, and a hint of longingness.

"Dude, you okay?" I tilted my head, cocking an eyebrow. Grover flinched.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fi-"

"I call bullsh…" I paused, mentally scolding myself. Instead of continuing my sentence, I took Grover's wrist and dragged him across the lawn.

He yelped out, "Percy!" but I ignored him. I ignored the stares, smirks, and snickers coming from everyone nearby. My vision tunnelled, my brain screeched to a halt. The only thing I knew was that Grover was beating himself up for something he probably didn't do and he needed a pep talk.

ȣ

I didn't stop until we hit soft sand.

A lake sat in front of us, the glossy waters shimmering in the light of the rising sun. There was no one else in sight, just me and Grover, who was panting and out of breath.

"Percy, what the h-"

"What's wrong." I turned to face him, dropping his hand. He tumbled to the ground, his furry hindquarters landing in the sand.

"What… what are you-" He stammered.

"Don't lie to me!" I crossed my arms, growing frustrated. "I know what something's wrong with you. Just tell me." I demanded, my voice cracking halfway through.

"Nothing's wrong." Grover's voice trembled.

Anger boiled in my chest.

"Grover, _tell me what's wrong_." My voice turned deadly calm. Grover's eyes glazed over slightly.

"I… I had to see the Cloven Council…" he whispered, tears forming in his eyes. "A… about you."

The anger evaporated like morning mist. My hands fell to my side.

"The… wait, why?"

He fumbled with something around his neck. At first i thought it was some sort of hippie necklace with wooden sticks, then it dawned on me that they were pipes. Like a older version of the harmonica.

"Well, I… I failed to get you here safely."

"Are you f**kin kidding me? You saved my life." I protested Grover shook his head.

"You got attacked by a monster that had been at the school when I failed to sense her. You disappeared after I told you to wait for me at the bus stop, forcing me to track you down. You had to drag me up the hill to cross the border because I was unconscious, and you lost your mother. On top of that, you aren't even _considered_ within the range of having a house-call. I…"

"I call bull again. Grover, you're pushing yourself too far down. You found me and got me here, even if it wasn't directly. Maybe they'll give you a second chance."

Grover shook his head. " _That_ was my second chance."

My heart fell. I remember that night, right before the tests. It seemed ages ago, but in reality it was just 2 days before school let out, on May 29th.

" _... Sir, I can't fail my duties again."_

" _You haven't failed. I should have seen her for what she really was."_

"You… you had someone else to protect? A she." My voice was small.

Grover's body shook from the raw emotions. "It… It was 5 years ago. Her name was Thalia, daughter of Zeus. She was 12."

My mind spun. Grover sniffled.

"My job was to find her, bring her to camp. Protect her… But, she had other people with her. She was stubborn, hard-headed, and when she set her mind on something… well…"

"What happened to her?" I sat down next to him. His breath was heavy. Waves of raw emotions poured off our him, making me nauseous.

"Well, as you might have learned, demigods have smells. The more important the god, the more powerful their child will smell."

"Great, we're walking car fresheners. Glad to know."

Grover's face was grim, and I knew it was the wrong time and place.

"Anyway, we were almost to camp. We were literally at the top of the hill… but Hades' minions… They caught up with us. Thalia, she-" Grover's voice broke. "She made her final stand on the hill. As she was dying, her dad took pity in her and zapped her from Olympus, turning her into a Pine Tree. Ever since that day the hill has been referred to as 'Half-Blood Hill'. As for the tree…"

I glanced back, looking behind me. In the distance, the tallest pine stood proudly on the hill.

"Thalia's still in that tree, isn't she?"

Grover sat in silence for a little bit. "No one really knows," he said at last. "All we know is that the tree is magic. From that day on, the tree has been pulsing with power, making a shield around the camp to steer off unwanted things and protect camp."

Suddenly I felt so small. Thalia, a daughter of the king of the gods himself, stood up for what was right. She died protecting her friends, and in result of that, her tree protected the camp. All I did was fight a bull man who killed my mom.

"Why did Hades go after her?" I whispered softly.

Grover fumbled with his reed pipes. "Back when World War Two ended, the big three; Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus; made a pact to never have kids again. Their children were just too powerful. So powerful, in fact, that _they_ were the ones who caused the first world war. They swore it on the River Styx, which is the most powerful oath you can take."

As if to confirm this, the sky rumbled in agreement.

"And it stayed that way… Until Zeus got…"

"A little too happy?" I suggest. Grover nodded, a small smile creeping it's way into his gloomy look.

"Yeah, a little too happy. I don't know what really happened, Thalia didn't like to talk about her mom. Basically, it was the 80's. She was an actress with big poofy blonde hair and sequin bellbottoms, and he was… you know, a god. Sparks flew and next thing you know, a baby came around."

"Zeus broke the oath." I said slowly.

Grover nodded. "The same oath he elected to make."

"That's hypocritical." I wrinkled my nose. "He's an as… arsehole…"

Grover snorted with laughter. "Gods Percy, you and your mouth."

My cheeks grew warm. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I crossed my arms and shook my head.

"Like the fact you literally dropped the f-bomb twice in 4 days?"

Confusion rippled across my mind. What did he mean twice? "When was the second time?"

"Oh, 5 minutes ago when you started ranting."

"Okay, when was the first time then?"

"When you got claimed." He offered.

I huffed. "You weren't even there."

"No, but I know you Percy. You drop the f-bomb more times than an actual brit does."

"Not true." I rolled my eyes, smiling. Grover laughed, all the sadness from moments before shattering.

"Come on Perce. Let's go see Mr. D."

ȣ

The Big House wasn't as big as the first time I saw it.

I mean, sure, it was 4 stories tall, but It just didn't seem… big.

Maybe it was the fact that I've scaled the lava wall (which was easily twice as tall) or something like that, but…

Well, you get the point already.

Grover led me inside, guiding me through rooms and halls, and up a few flights of stairs.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we entered a room about the size of manhattan.

(Okay, I'm kidding. It was the size of a mansion's master bedroom.)

There was a table with a 3-D map of Manhattan on it, complete with mini clay cars scooting across the mini clay streets. Something told me it was like a live-feed of the city.

Chiron sat in his wheelchair, beside a couch, flipping through a newspaper labelled 'Gossip of the 20's'. Judging by the outfits and the people, it was most likely the 1020's not the 1920's.

Across from Chiron was the man of the hour himself - Mr. D.

He looked bored, tapping the screen of a glowing bronze object. Grover coughed, startling the god.

The glowing bronze thing popped out of existence and Chiron gently folded his paper and placing down on the couch.

"Ah Percy. So glad to see you again."

He looked rather cheerful, nothing like the man I saw just last Friday.

"Uh, yeah… Good to see you to." My voice faltered at the end, making it sound like I had asked a question instead.

Chiron chuckled softly. "A little later than I anticipated, but here nethertheless. We have much to discuss, my boy."

I nodded softly, feeling a little awkward just standing there. A door off to the side swung open, giving way to a familiar face with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Luke looked out of breath, but as soon as I saw him, I glanced away. Instead, I focused on the potted plant beside me.

"Sorry… I'm… Late…" Luke gasped for air. "The stolls…"

"It's fine, Luke. Percy was late too."

 _Oh great. So glad to be put into spotlight. Thanks a lot._

"Perce?" Luke's voice scattered my thoughts.

I looked up. "Hi…"

 _Well this is awkward. You never even dated the guy and now you two are acting like an awkward broken-up couple._

 _Oh gods, I really need to stop reading those magazines my sisters have._

Mr. D cleared his throat. "So… shall we begin?"

"Um… begin what?" I shifted my weight a little. "No one told me why I had to be here."

"Or me. Chiron, what's going on?" Luke turned to face the centaur in the room.

"A quest. Something's happened on Olympus, and I believe Percy is the key to solving it."


	9. Just scream bloody murder at a zombie

"I'm sorry, what?" I choked.

Mr. D. glared at me. "Yes boy, we are talking about you."

"Chiron, there must be some mistake… I'm sure whatever happened doesn't need a-"

"Demigod to handle it?" Chiron finished for Luke, who was as confused as I was. "Please sit."

We listened. Luke sat down next to Chiron, Grover sat next to Luke, and I sat next to my goat-friend.

"Now, you two listen very closely." Mr. D's bored tone rattled across my brain. "Because I'm not going to repeat myself. Something was stolen, and if it's not returned, chaos will break out."

I frowned. "How do you steal something off of Olympus? Don't you have top-of-the-line godly gates that no one can get through?"

The god's eyes flared purple. "You little-"

"Dionysus, please. The boy isn't as well adjusted as most of the people here." Chiron's voice cut through the rage in the air. Dionysus relaxed a little.

"I suppose…" He sighed. "Anyway, Chiron believes that you can solve it." He jabbed a pudgy finger in my direction.

"Me? Why me?"

"Yeah, why him?" Luke sounded generally concerned. "I'm sure that-"

"Now now, you two," Chiron chidded. "You haven't heard the whole story yet."

I fidgeted impatiently.

"It was a normal day, really. It was the winter solstice, everyone was there for the meeting, we had the dreaded winter-field trip again… Zeus was argueing with Poseidon about which disasters were better: wind or water, Athena was screeching at Ares about something again, Aphrodite was trying to convince Artemis to get married, so on so forth." Dionysus droned on in a monotone. "Well later that day, after all the demigods were gone, Zeus noticed his bolt was missing. He instantly blames Poseidon for it."

Luke's face scrunched up in concentration. "I thought gods couldn't take items of power like that."

"They can't." Chiron confirmed. "They can, however, convince a demigod to do it."

Chiron looked at me.

"Wait, Zeus think I stole his lightning bolt? I've never even been to Olympus, much less try to steal something from Zeus."

Chiron held his hand up to silence me. "He hahd good reasoning. When we founded you, we assumed you were… powerful."

Grover yelped softly. "S..sir?"

My mind raced. What could he…

Then it all clicked.

"You thought I was Poseidon's kid, didn't you."

The room seemed to grow darker. A chill settled on my spine. "You thought Poseidon broke the oath and had me."

Chiron frowned. Grover turned and gawked at me.

"How did you…"

"Clarisse… During Capture the flag, she said 'Let's see if you really are 'Big Three Material'.'" I recalled. "The big three is Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. I can't be Zeus', he blamed me for the bolt. I can't be Hades, he sent that demon bat thing after me. The only other option you can have assumed was that I was Poseidon's kid." My stomach churned. "You thought I was going to die."

"Now, Percy-" Chiron started.

"No, I get it. You're glad I'm some child of love. I don't have any sort of power to me. Just a weak little…"

"Peter, you have some... unique powers." Mr. D. cut me off.

"It's Percy."

"Yes, whatever." he rolled his eyes. "While you might not be barnicle beard's son, you are still at blame. Zeus is too stubborn to go back on his word. He has gods out and about, looking for hi bolt and who stole it. He wants it back by the Summer Solstice. Poseidon, on the other hand, is firmly stating that _he_ wasn't the one who stole it. He demands an apology by the Summer Solstice too."

"So no one has found this lightning thief?"

"Don't be snarky, child." The god growled.

"What I believe our lord is trying to say is," Chiron gestured to me. "Is that he wants you to return the bolt."

"But I didn't take it!" I protested.

Chiron shook his head "That's not the point, Perseus." I flinched at the use of my full name. "The point is to find who stole it and bring the bolt safely back."

"Chiron, the boy's barely 12."

"I turn 13 in August." I mumbled. Luke ignored me.

"A quest like that… That's a lot of pressure. Maybe if-"

"I wasn't asking, Luke." Chiron frowned. "I was telling. Percy must go on this quest. He's the only one who would have the ability to end this feud."

"But why me?" I point out. "I'm just a son of Aphrodite."

"The most powerful son of Aphrodite since 1804." Chiron corrected. "You were born with an ability I have not seen or heard about in a very very long time."

"Sir… Are you suggesting…" Grover swallowed, shaking a little.

"Suggesting what?" Confusion bubbled in my voice.

"Percy, you're born with a gift some may call a 'Siren's Voice'. It's better known as 'charmspeak'."

Silence settled thickly around us. Everyone was looking at me, expecting some sort of reaction. I wanted to curl up in a hole and never leave. Powerful? Me? This had to be some joke. The look on everyone's faces told me otherwise.

A minute passed.

Then another.

Finally, I sighed.

"Is that why Nancy tried to drown herself." My voice was small, almost broken. "I… I didn't mean-"

"Percy, it wasn't your fault." Chiron sighed. "You didn-"

"I could have killed her…" The realisation dawned on me. "I made someone lose their job. You call that a 'gift'?"

I felt angry. Not at Chiron, not at Nancy, not at that poor teacher. I felt angry at myself.

"Percy please-" Grover tried.

"No!" I yanked away from the couch, stumbling blindly to the side. "I force 2 people to do something they didn't even want to do! I didn't have to touch them, _they just did it. You call that a gift_!" My voice thickened and I felt hot tears roll down my face.

I didn't think. I turned and stormed out of the room. I knocked over a shelf on the way out, toppling as many items to the ground as I could. I just needed to get away.

I took twists and turns, climbing up another set of stairs. I wanted to get as far away from people as I could. I didn't want to leave the Big House, not during morning buzz-hour.

Before I knew it, I found myself at the and of the last hallway, face to face with a door that looked like it just went through a police raid.

It didn't match the other doors in the hall. While everything was a crisp, clean white, this door was a moldy shade of brown with water stains and patches of black. Splinters peeled away from the edges, the door hanging off of only one hinge located at the top. It was slightly ajar, showing me little of the darkness behind it.

I wasn't thinking straight. Everyone knows that you _shouldn't_ go behind the creepy door that looks like termite chow.

Bite me.

I took the rusty handle and gently pulled forwards. The hinge creaked loudly, making me cringe. Mentally scolding myself, I slipped into the room and pulled the door shut.

ȣ

I would love to say that, indeed, there was no killer waiting for me in the room.

Nope, there was something worse…

It wasn't big - maybe a 10 foot by 20 foot room. It was cluttered too: Suitcases with weird stickers littered the floor, jars with unidentified floating objects sprinkled the shelves. There were weird pieces of broken objects lying around the floor: One looked like a claw, another looked like a piece of gold rope. A shirt that hung on the wall read: 'Superstore Sparta: For all your killing needs'. But the strangest thing in the room was the zombie.

Yeah, you read that right.

 _ZOMBIE._

She was hideous - long, thin black hair framed her black-maggot eaten face. Her skeleton peaked out of her skin every once and awhile, but it was so black that it was hard to tell where the bone started and the rotting ended. She wore a faded tiedye sundress with so many holes that it might as well been mesh. She wore many beads around her neck - easily over a 100 of them. Each one had a different design painted on them, each one in prime condition. She slouched against a wall, perched atop of a bronze three-legged stool that glowed softly, providing the only light source in the room.

It was strange, looking at her… Something pulled at the back of my mind. Some story from greek times that included a three-legged stool.

Suddenly, she shifted. I stumbled backwards. The zombie's sunken hollow eye-sockets flickered with a green light and she straightened into a proper sitting position.

Her jaw unhinged and glowing green smoke billowed out. The room filled with the substance, along with the smell of something earthy.

It was serpent.

I gasped. I remembered the story.

" _I am the Spirit of Delphi_ ," A voice echoed in the room. It was cold and raspy, ancient enough to know everything. " _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python._ "

A chill settled in the room. I swallowed a lump forming in my throat.

" _Approach, seeker, and ask._ "

I curled my hands into fists.

"Lord Dionysus wants me to go on a quest to retrieve Zeus' bolt." I stated loudly, mustering all the courage I had. "What is my fate?"

The green mist swirled around me in an invisible wind, and I saw figures being formed out of it.

Sandwiched between the Oracle-Zombie and I was a poker table with 4 people sitting at it, playing cards. Their faces turned to face me and I recognized them.

It was Smelly Gabe and his Poker Buddies.

Gabe opened his mouth to speak.

" _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned_." In place of his obnoxious voice was the raspy snake-like voice of Delphi.

The goon next to Mist-Gabe tilted his head, put down a royal set, and spoke. " _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._ "

Steve scowled and pushed his poker chips towards goon number one, then looked up at me. " _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._ "

FInally, the last goon looked up at me with pure green eyes. " _And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end_."

The poker scene dissolved into a swirling vortex of green, funnelling itself into the zombie's mouth.

Then, the room went silent.

The oracle slumped back against the wall, closed her mouth, and stopped glowing.

I stood there in shock.

Then came the emotions.

"Is that it!" I yelled at the zombie. "You give me some bloody prophecy like 'Oh, no biggie, you'll return the bolt and get pain and suffering in the end.' Well I have something to say to you, mate!"

That was not my finest moment, looking back on it… But I was mad.

I screech and cursed at the oracle. I begged for her to tell me more, to not be so vague. I even tried to charmspeak her.

She just slumped against her wall, eyes dark, in her old dress and shiny necklace.

After a while, I gave up. What's the point? I was yelling at a corpse what wasn't going to tell me anything.

I sat on the floor and stayed like that for ages, crying. I thought over my entire life. I thought over every single myth Chiron ever taught me. I thought about my friendships, the very few I had. I thought about the recent events, about my strange new 'abilities' that have been growing since that one day in May.

"Why me?" I whispered, though I knew no one would answer. "Out of all the _bloody_ people in the world, all 6 billion them, why me? Why did I have to have _this_ curse?"

I stood up. My mind raced.

"I… I'll never use charmspeak again. I swear it on the…"

My voice died in my throat.

I wanted to swear it on the Styx, the most important oath you could make. Who needed charm anyways? It was just an easy way to get something without working for it.

But I couldn't bring myself to do it. My mother, out of everyone in this world, had given _me_ the ability to swoon a person into doing my bidding. The first person to have it since 1804. Maybe it was her way of reaching out. Of saying ' _I'm here for you, and I love you_.'

It sounded like a long shot, but the thought warmed my heart a little.

I wiped a tear off my cheek and reached for the door, entering the bright world outside.

ȣ

Slowly, but surely, I picked my way downstairs and into the world outside. I saw Chiron, Luke, Grover, and Annabeth sitting on the porch having an intense conversation with each other.

Grover sniffed the air and turned around to face me.

"Percy!"

He lung-hugged me, nearly smashing me to the ground.

"Hey." My voice was almost as raspy as the oracle's, but I managed a smile. "Miss me?"

"Dude, you were gone for 3 hours! We searched the whole camp." Grover pulled away from me and punched me in the shoulder. "Where were you!?"

The others pooled around me, waiting for an answer.

"I just went upstairs." I half-lied. What was I supposed to tell them?

 _Oh, by the way, I'm destined to fail to save what matters most to me. Great, isn't it? Let's go celebrate._

Chiron raised an eyebrow.

" _Just_ upstair?"

I frowned. "Well… I needed some space. I… I thought about it. The whole 'going on a quest to save a lightning bolt' thing."

"And…?" Luke's eyes flickered over my image. I knew I didn't look like a crying wreck, the blessing prevented that from happening. I probably looked like I took a light jog on the beach.

I sighed. No point of hiding it, right?

"I may or may not have found a crazy zombie-lady that spewed green mist from her mouth. May or may not be living on the last door of the last hallway of the last floor. May or may not have spoken to her."

Annabeth gasped. "You went to see the oracle?"

I nodded slowly, regretting my decision immediately. Her eye filled with wonder and curiosity.

"What was it like? What did you tell you? She did she show you? Wh-"

Her words blended together, making a large smoothie of sounds. Chiron held up his head and Annabeth stopped mid-sentence.

"Annabeth, please, let the boy speak."

Annabeth crossed her arms and scowled.

"Fine."

Everyone looked back at me.

"So… What did she say?" Grover nudged.

"That I would go to the west and find the god who had turned, and see the bolt safely returned." I said.

A few moments of silence passed.

"That's it?" Luke pried.

"Yes." I stately slowly.

"Just that. Nothing else." His voice grew more… sharp. Like a professor trying to get more answers from the crowd.

I firmly nodded my head. " _That's it_."

The charmspeak rolled over him, making him blink. For a split moment, I thought it wouldn't work.

Then he nodded too, his eyes glazing over. "Okay."

Relief spilled over me and I held back I cheer of victory. Grover and Annabeth nodded, seemingly convinced that I was telling the truth.

Chiron smiled warmly. "Well then, I guess now all you have to do is select your quest partners."

My heart stopped. "My… my what?"

Luke smiled a little. "When demigods go on quests, we encourage groups of 3. Safety in numbers and all."

I gulped. I hadn't anticipated that.

I looked up pat Luke. My heart screamed _Let him go with you_.

But that little voice in the back of my head whispered: _Do you really want him to go with you?_

I saw the hunger in Annabeth's eyes. The yearning for adventure. I saw the scared Grover. The one who thought he failed me.

I turned to look back at Chiron. "If Grover goes on the quest with me, will that Cloven Council whatever forgive him."

Everyone looked shocked. Grover's eyebrows shot up higher than the sky.

Chiron nodded. "If he can guide you along the quest and aid you in retrieving the bolt, I suppose that would declare his duties fulfilled… Even qualify him for Seeker."

I didn't know what Seeker was, but Grover's face morphed into one of hope and I knew it had to be good news.

I nodded slowly.

 _Annabeth is a daughter of Athena,_ the small voice said. _She has spent 5 years here learning battle strategy and how to defeat monsters. She's your best bet._

"Well then…" I trailed off.

Slowly, I turned from Luke to face Annabeth. "Annabeth Chase, will you do me the honour of assisting me on my quest for the Bolt of Zeus?"


	10. Tanaka's a genius, unlike someone I know

***Rowan Baker is NOT my own character, he belongs to 'The Half Assassin' by Tea and Biscuits on wattpad.**

 **She gave me permission to take his name and make him a son of aphrodite. But go check out her story, because it's amazing.**

 ** _An Update: Holy hera i actually updated? AYyy sorry, it's beeen about a month and a half. I was working on Primordial Four and Curse of unknown and MIGHT EVEN BE STARTING A RARESHIP STORY._**

 ** _Yeah, well you don't care about that. You care on whether or not dite!Percy is gonna continue. Well it is, because dite!Percy is adorable af and pan af too..._**

 ** _on to the well anticipated chapter!_**

Annabeth's jaw dropped.

"Me?" She pointed at her chest. "You want me-"

"Yes," I snapped. "Unless you don't want to go."

"Well of course I want to go, Dove Boy."

"Don't call me that." I frowned. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I accept your offer."

"Chiron, are you sure-"

"We must trust Percy on this." Chiron's face turned grim.

"But last time…" Luke trailed off. His eyes changed in colour to a more sapphire-tone. Pain.

Chiron shook his head. "The prophecy issued states he shall succeed. We must trust the Fates."

Luke looked slightly defeated, but nodded. "Yes… You three should go get packed and head out. It's the 12th, and you need to get the bolt back by the 21st…"

He trailed off, his face morphing into one of concentration. I opened my mouth to try and say something, but Annabeth dragged me off the porch.

"What was that for?" I hissed at her as soon as the Big House was out of sight.

"Just go get ready, Dove Boy." She replies back, darting off towards Cabin 6

"I liked Seaweed Brain better." I grumbled, heading towards the dreaded Pink Hell House.

ȣ

"Oh my gods, a quest?!" I flinched at the high pitch voice. Drew Tanaka was sitting on her bed, curling her hair. "Percy, that's so…"

"Amazing?" I offered. She rolled her eyes.

"Useless. Quests are for children of Ares, not for us. Unless it's a quest to go kidnap Tristan McLean. Now _that_ is a quest I would volunteer for."

I laughed a little, folding the very few clothes that I had. Well, the very few _decent_ clothes…

"You should totally take the Smashbox Full Exposure Mini Palette!" She gasped, pulling out a sleek black case the size of a phone.

"Um, Drew, no offense, but I don't think a nude palette is going to help me out much."

She frowned. "Yeah… Maybe a neon one would though."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Aren't you not allowed to use those palettes?"

She huffed. "Just because Mom hasn't inspired the person to make the palette yet does not mean I can't wear it."

"Uh huh… yeah."

She pulled out a rosey-red lipstick. She was only 11 years old, but she was a makeup expert. She could pick the right shade of lipstick to match anyone. She could select the perfect foundation for you on her firsts try. Want a hair cut? She knew exactly what would make you look perfect.

Made her mad? Well that was a whole other story. She could curse you with weeks of bad hair days, give you grey hair, make you have uncontrollable acne, and even curse you to have clown make-up for weeks, no matter what you did.

She didn't talk much to others though. Ask her for a favour, she'd just nod or shake her head in response. But, for some reason, she opened up and talked up a storm around me. I didn't mind, she was my sister, but it was a little strange.

"So where do you think you're going?"

I frowned. I didn't think about it.

"I…"

"Well it helps if you know the goal." Drew decided, putting her lipstick down. "What is it? A new pair of shoes?"

"Zeus' master bolt." I admitted. She frowned.

"Why…" She trailed off, staring at something behind me.

I sat down next to her. "Someone stole it. Zeus… he blames Poseidon for hiring someone to steal it. Poseidon's mad at Zeus for accusing him of such a crime. Chiron thinks I should be the one to return it, since Zeus also blames me."

Drew wrinkled her nose. "Ew, sounds messy." She tapped her chin. "But there is someone who isn't in the picture."

I glanced at her, confused. "Uh, who?"

Drew gently punched my arm. "Hades, duh!"

"What does he have to do with this?"

Drew sighed. "He's their older brother. You remember when Adriana took Jessica's favourite ribbon and pinned the blame on Rowan*?"

I shivered. "Don't remind me. Jessie blew up right in front of the campfire. All the drama."

"Well, maybe that's what's happening, but in a more deadly, godly scale." Drew reasoned. "Hades get's someone to take Zeus' bolt, and watches from the background while Poseidon gets the drama wave."

"But he'd have to be careful about it… You saw what happened to Adriana when Jessica found out who really stole that ribbon."

Drew nodded. "Oh that curse was a good one. I've never seen a raincloud curse like that one before. Her hair was ruined for days!"

"Drew, focus."

"Uh, right. Sorry." She twisted her hair around her finger. "Hades is a god, at least a thousand years older that Poseidon or Zeus. He might have spent eons planning for this."

"Gee, thanks for the motivational booster." I grumbled. Drew smiled.

"Welcome!" She paused. "Wait, that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

I smiled a little and Drew frowned.

"Very funny, Percy."

"I live to be hilarious." I faked flipping my hair, making Drew giggle.

"That's not how you do it, it's like this." To demonstrate, she expertly flipped her hair over her shoulder. Of course, she pulls it off naturally, but she stuck out her tongue while doing it, so I laughed.

 _Knock knock knock._

Drew and I went silent.

 _Knock knock knock._

"Percy, hurry up!" Annabeth's voice was muffled, like she was trying to scream underwater. "We haven't got all day!"

"OOoh, Annabeth is going with you?" Drew teased. My cheeks glowed red.

"Shut up."

"You like her."

"I said shut up." I hissed, hiding my face in my hands. Drew laughed a little.

"I shouldn't hold you back from your future girlfriend. See you when you get back home!"

She planted a kiss on my forehead, then got up to go back to the bathroom to finish her makeup.

 _Bang bang bang._

"Percy Jackson, I swear-" Annabeth started rapidly cursing in Greek, making my flinch. And I thought I had a bad mouth.

I opened the door and a surprised ball of blonde fell forwards.

She quickly regained her posture and glazed at me.

"Well it's about time. What did you do, pack a whole makeup team?"

I growled. "No, Bird Brain, I was busy figuring out where the Hades I'm going."

Annabeth crossed her airs. "And where's that?"

I looked at her with a 'seriously' face. "Uh, Hades… duh."

She blinked. "Wait, what?"

I grabbed my bookbag and slung it over my shoulder. "Poseidon and Zeus are getting into a fight, who better than to start it than their older brother?"

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I guess you're right."

"No need to state the obvious." I deadpanned. Annabeth glared even more.

"Shut up." She scowled. As I guided her out of the pink house, I imagined Drew smirking to herself in the bathroom.

The weather seemed strange, like the clouds were trying to claw their way inside the camp, lightning flashing inside of the puffiness. I knew that they couldn't go in, since that was apart of the camp's magic, but the cloud was so big… I shook my head. There would be no thunderstorms making their way onto camp.

Grover was waiting patiently for us in the middle of the green, like he had waited for me earlier that day. When he saw us walking over, he raised his eyebrow in a questioning matter.

"Um…" He looked between us.

"What?" I frowned. "Did the blessing wear off? Please tell me the blessing wore."

He shook his head.

I groaned. "Great. I'm going on a quest looking like a Polynesian Ken Doll."

Annabeth snorted. "Or maybe it wears off halfway through and you end up with bad acne."

I rolled my eyes. "Better than looking like a model."

Grover looked between us like we were crazy, then shook his head. "Where do we head first."

I thought for a moment. "The prophecy said to go west."

"And face the turned god." Annabeth said. "Who is Hades."

Grover's face paled dramatically. "Wait, what? Him?"

I looked between the two, who shared a pained look. Before I could ask anything, Jassible ran up to us.

"Hey losers." She slung her arm my shoulder.

"What do you want Jassible?" Annabeth glared up at the blue haired girl.

"What she means is 'hey Jaz.'" I corrected. Annabeth turned and glared at me, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"A little birdy told me you're leaving camp for a quest." Jassible messed with my hair, obviously delighted that it pops back into place. "I came over to wish ya good riddance."

I rolled my eyes. "As if I'd just leave. You still owe me 20 bucks for the Rowan incident."

She snorted. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Is that it, _Jassible_?" Annabeth commented, glaring at the older girl. Jaz shrugged.

"Chiron sent me to tell you 3 to meet him at Thalia's Tree in…" She looked at her wrist, which was bare. "Mh… now."

Annabeth scoffed softly. "Right."

Jassible shot the daughter of Athena a smile. "Better getting flying, Lil' Owl. And Perce," Jass turned to me. "If you die, I call dibs on whatever stash you have in Cabin 10."

"If you can get to it." I replied back. "You might come back out of that cabin with pink hair."

"Never." She sneered. "Never in a millennium"

"Uhuh." I said. "Right… Keep telling yourself that."

Jassible narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. "What did you do?"

I smiled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Rule number six of pranks: bluff is your greatest weapon. Jassible's eyes turned colder as she scanned over my face. She decided that it wasn't worth poking and prodding, turning to go join the Hermes Cabin as they filed to the dining pavilion.

"Gods she's so…." Annabeth growled with frustration, clenching her fists into tight balls. "I can't stand her."

"Why?" I said, completely confused.

"It's like she oozes aggravation." Annabeth stated firmly. "She's so annoying and always picking fights not worth fighting."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I stated. Annabeth looked at me like I were a killer who just burned her favourite book.

"No, of course you don't," She crossed her arms. "Aphrodite is all about 'loving everyone'."

"Watch your mouth." I snapped.

"Could you two please not fight." Grover interrupted. "We… we should go see Chiron."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to skewer me alive with her knife, but instead she turned on her heel and marched towards Thalia's Tree, in search of a centaur.

Grover glanced at me nervously but I trudged after Annabeth, already wishing this quest would be over despite the fact we haven't even started yet.

ȣ

Chiron, Luke, Mr. D, and a blonde dude were waiting for us at the top of the hill, next to a van parked very close to the tree.

"Well it's about time." Mr. D grumbled, flipping the page of his Party City magazine. "Thought you chickened out."

"We'll we're here now, if that makes you so satisfied." I mumbled under my breath, glaring at the god in the loud purple shirt. Mr. D either didn't hear me or didn't acknowledge what I said, because he continued scanning the pages in search of a fine party favour. Chiron smiled warm-heartedly at me, sitting in his wheelchair like he had been a few weeks ago, only now he's not my latin teacher.

Luke was under the pine tree, looking at it was a pained look in his eyes. For a moment I swore I saw a girl's face the colour of rose etched into the bark, but when I blinked it was gone. Before I could say anything, Luke noticed us.

"Hey, wondered what took so long." He paced over to the 3 of us, standing next to Chiron.

"I was figuring out where we would go first." I said matter-a-factly.

Mr. D raised an eyebrow, his magazine popping out of his hands in a puff of purple smoke. "Oh we have, have we? And where would that be Petra?"

"Percy," I corrected him, glaring. "It's Percy, and we'll be heading west, to the Underworld, since you ever so nicely asked."

Mr. D glared at me, his eyes flaring purple. Inside of them, I could see memories of people being driven into insanity, entire ship crews transforming into dolphins, and vines growing out of control.

"I'd watch your charmspeak if I were you, child." Mr. D's voice was low. Before he could say anything else, Chiron held up his hand up to silence the god.

"Dionysus, please. The boy means no disrespect to you, he simply hasn't learned how to manage his powers yet." Chiron's voice was oddly calming, despite the look of rage in the wine god's eyes. Mr. D glared at me, and I glared right back. I wasn't afraid of him. Not after that yawn incident at the side of the road. Still, something told me that I shouldn't get on the wrong side of this god.

The god sighed. "I suppose." He pulled out a keycard, which was burgundy with white grapes imprinted on the center. "I don't want to see any of you here by the time I get back from this emergency meeting, or you all will be swimming with the fishes."

He evaporated in a mist of light purple, leaving the scent of champagne behind. I nearly gagged on the alcohol, vowing to never go anywhere near wine again. The other blonde dude watched me with all his eyes.

Yes, I said _all_. Not both, _all_. According to the other campers, his name is Argus and he has 100 eyes. Argus, the guy who failed to keep watch of Io, was still around after _5 thousand years_.

Argus offered a small smile when he saw me glance over, holding up 2 fingers, then tapping the back of his wrist like you tap a watch.

2 minutes.

I looked back at the 2 seniors residents, which was hilarious to think about since Luke was only 19 and Chiron was easily older than the Olympians themselves. Luke held a box in his hands, which was falling apart at the seams and had scratches that looked suspiciously like tiger-claw marks. I took one look at it and felt like something really bad was inside.

Chiron cleared his throat, easing the tension I had no idea was there. "Yes, Percy, I guess we should bid you farewell, and remind you that you have to be back at Olympus the day of the solstice."

I could tell he was trying to be kind, but to me it felt like it was a speech someone had to give it a funeral. "Yes, I understand."

"Do you have any weapons?" He glanced between me and Annabeth, who stood on the other side of Grover so she didn't have to be next to me. I glanced at her and she nodded, pulling a dagger as long as her forearm and a Yankee's cap from her belt.

"Yes, we do."

"No we don't," I corrected. "At least, not me."

I glanced at Grover, who was fiddling with his reeds.

Chiron frowned in my peripheral vision. "Yes, I almost forgot"

He slipped something small from his jacket pocket, holding it out towards me. I turned so I could see it better, taking a step closer.

In his hand was a rather familiar pen - a gold capped purple ballpoint pen.

"Wait… this is…" I gingerly plucked the pen from the centaur's hand. "This is the pen you threw at me when that… that _thing_ attacked me."

Chiron's eyes sparkled in mild amusement. I quickly held the pen in my fist, ballpoint side up, and slipped the cap off.

Instantly a glowing bronze sword sprung to life, nearly causing me to jump back.

The sword seemed different than all the other times Chiron used it in class. Back at Yancy, the sword was just plain bronze. This one, however, was completely decked out in accessories.

The hilt was wrapped with soft brown leather, worn down in a graceful way. At the base of the blade were 7 little loops the size of the needle in a thumb tack, each one holding a small charm. One was a rose, another was a dove. There was a heart, a golden apple, a seashell, a star that was painted a rosy red, and a sapphire ring made with silver. Above the charms was an engraving of a shell, the lines filled in with some sort of blue-white iridescent material that twinkled like a pastel night sky. Along the guard was black greek letters, which instantly translated in my mind.

 **Ανακλυσμός - Anaklusmos**

 ** _Riptide._**

I weighed the blade in my hand. Perfectly balanced, almost like it was made specifically for me. Chiron's smile was well hidden, but his eyes glowed as he watched me.

"This is mine?"

The centaur nodded. "Poseidon told me a very special hero would wield it someday. At the time I had thought he meant one of his own, but the pen seemed to like you a lot."

I smiled and placed the golden cap on the tip. Instantly the 3 foot long blade scrunk back down to the ballpoint pen. Bronze glowed to life on the side and slowly **Ανακλυσμός** etched it's way into the cool metal shelling.

"Wow," I heard Annabeth breathe lightly under her breath. I nodded.

Nervously I tucked it into my pocket, my mind wandering to the millions of times I lost school supplies. I was not going to lose my pen/sword.

 _Wait, if I have a pen sword, then which one is mightier; the pen or the sword?_

Before I could answer myself, Chiron's voice pulled me out of the philosophical abyss. "You won't lose it."

"Whot?" My accent thickened momentarily, causing my cheeks to flush. Chiron chuckled softly.

"The pen is magic; it'll appear in your pocket if you lose it. Go ahead, throw it."

I looked at him like he asked me to drop a bomb on a house. Then, using only two fingers, I slipped Riptide out of my pocket and flung it over the hill. I waited a few moments until I was sure the pen was far away, then reached into my pocket.

My hand wrapped around my pen and I pulled it out, shocked. Annabeth snorted.

"You look funny." She teased. I glared at her.

"Whot, can your little knife do that, too?"

She closed her mouth and glared at me. I slipped my pen back into my front pocket.

"That's whot I thought."

"Now now, no fighting you two." Luke chimed out. He took a step towards me. "I also have something to give you."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand cue the heart fluttering uncontrollably despite the fact the dude is literally 5 or so year older than me.

I want to say I handled it with class, but honestly right then and there I was glad to have the blessing or I would have looked like a sundried tomato left for rot.

"Uh, you… you do?"

Luke took off the lid to the box and pulled out two black Nike running shoes in top condition, both of which had two tiny wings attached at the heels.

"This were a gift from my father, from when I went on my last quest," Luke explained, a steely look forming in his eyes. "I don't use them for anything anymore, and I thought you'd need them."

He tossed them into the air, towards my head, and shouted, "Maia!"

Instantly the 4 dormant wings fluttered to life, hovering 6 inches away from my face. I blinked in mild alarm and the shoes tilted to the left a little, almost like a dog tilting its head when you say the word 'treat' for the very first time.

"Just say that whenever you need to shoes to flutter to life or not." Luke smiled, the bottom half of his scar fading a little. "Anywho, I should get to Lunch before the Stolls start _yet another_ food fight. Good luck on your quest!"

With that, he trotted off to the dining pavilion, leaving just me, a centaur, a dude with 100 eyes, a satyr eating his shirt, and a girl who looked like she was hyped up on enough caffeine to out-lecture a professor, standing at the top of a hill with a girl-tree-thing.

I turned to Chiron. "I can't use these, can I?"

The old man nodded slightly. "It'll be ill-advided to. Zeus blames you for the stealing of his bolt, going into his domain would be suicide."

I frowned and looked at the shoes. Their toes tipped down a little, as if they were pouted.

Great, I have empathic flying shoes I can't use.

I glanced over at my goat-friend, who was munching away at his tie dye shirt like it was a candy bar. An idea bubbled in my head. I took the shoes from the air and turned to face my bestie.

"Hey Grover, how would you like top condition flying Nike's?"

His face lit up like Christmas. "M… me? You want me to have them?"

I smiled and handed them to him. "Of course, can't put a gift like this to waste."

Grover snatched the shoes out of my hands and proceeded to slip off the Vans he had on right now. I smiled a little, glad my friend was excited.

But something didn't feel… right.

Argus grunted softly. I turned to look at him as he held his right hand open, palm facing away from me and parallel to his face. He jerked his hand outwards, curling his fingers into a cone like shape. I knew that sign, my mom used it all the time.

"Let's Go," I translated. Chiron raised an eyebrow but said nothing concerning to the ASL.

"Very well. You 3 behave. And remember: Olympus is counting on you."

We filed to the blank white van 20 feet right of the tree. As I climbed in, I took one last look at the strawberry and death-defying obstacle spotted valley.

"We can do this," I muttered. "For Olympus."

Then I climbed into the very back and pulled the door shut.


	11. Garbage Grandmas with whips

**An: Special thanks to Maceral, the anon hater, for giving me in inspiration to stay awake to write this, despite the fact i took my sleep aid medication already. Also, thanks for the insult ammo, I really needed it. This chapter is dedicated to you Matt, so enjoy your** _ **favourite**_ **story. PS - as Thomas Sanders once said: You are the sunshine to my cloudy day.**

ȣ

The rain didn't help.

Shortly after we climbed into the van and started out rocky journey to New York City, where we'd start our painful journey west, the thunder started rolling.

Argus was quiet the entire way, since apparently he had an eye on his tongue (I can neither confirm nor deny such claims), but he made glances at me with his eye on his neck.

Annabeth talked the entire way too, which also didn't help.

When I first met her, I thought there was no way she could be like me. She could actually sit down and read a book, for example, but now that I was really watching her, she couldn't sit still. She kept putting her hair up and then pulling the hairband out to only put it back up again, or kept tapping a random beat out on the window. She hummed softly under her breath, a song I never heard before. Every time we made a turn, her eyes would widen and she'd scan her surroundings like she had only one chance to take it all in.

Watching Annabeth in a car was like watching a cat that found out what catnip was. It was only a matter of time before she became uncontrollable.

Grover sat behind me, nervously tapping his 'feet' against the metal flooring. His excitement from earlier had died down pretty fast, draining his emotions so he looked like a sick, sad puppy. Everything around him looked darker - his neon orange camp shirt, his blue string-sack of emergency cans and godly food, the little wings on his shoes, and his skin. Even his rainbow beanie looked greyer, if that was even possible. Whenever I looked at him, I felt a pull of sadness in my heart, and I had a strange feeling he was thinking about that daughter of Zeus.

Somehow we survived the freak storm, though the sky didn't clear up. Argus dropped us off near uptown, a few blocks away from my home.

 _My old home_ , I corrected myself as I climbed out of the van and thanked Argus in ASL.

I watched from the crumbling sidewalk as the van puffed its was around a corner and start its was back to camp.

"This is it," I stated aloud. "We're on our own now."

Annabeth bounced on her heels. "We should get going, find another mode of transportation. Which way should we travel first?"

I looked at her. She seemed to glow with hyperactivity, her body trembling with excitement. Her curls frizzed up a little in the unnatural humidity, making her look more like a mental institute patent than a demigoddess.

"We should find a bus to take." I mused a little, looking north. "The nearest station is that way."

"How do you know?" Annabeth sounded genuinely curious.

"... I'm from New York City…" I blinked a few times. "I use to roam all over the city in my spare time."

"That is so cool," her eyes sparkled in the misty morning light. I took a small step back.

"Oooookay then. Let's get going, I highly doubt Helios is gonna slow his chariot for us."

"It's actually Apollo now. Helios retired." Grover commented. I frowned.

"Gods, I wish I were him right now." I mumbled, then turned on my heel and lead the other two to the bus stop.

ȣ

Without meaning to, I accidently led them to my old home.

The block itself didn't change much, but the whole place had the weird vibe of depression hanging low over it. I remembered all the times I had stormed out of the house and hid in one of the many alleys provided by the city setup. I noticed a few posted that were blotted out due to the rain that passed through. The scent of garbage and Gabe filled my lungs, making me wish it was only garbage.

I stood completely still as someone walked across the street. Luckily the person didn't see three kids in bright orange.

They climbed up the stairs of my old home and walked inside.

Gods have mercy upon that person, I thought as I saw the poor person gag on the scent. Why did mom ever marry that guy?

"Your wanna know why she did?" Grover breathed, making me jump.

"Dude, what the f*ck."

Grover turned bright red. "Ooo… oops, I forgot to mention… Satyrs can read emotions. You were thinking about your mom, right?"

I nodded slowly. Grover fumbled with the hemming of his shirt. "She did it to protect you."

I nearly choked. "Protect me? Have you seen the guy? He looks like a dying walrus! And his scent… Don't even get me started on what he smells like."

"Percy, that's why she married him."

I paused. "Wait, what?"

Grover sighed. "Monsters have this ability to smell demigods, like satyrs do. Demigod scents are hard to mask properly, you'd need something potent."

My mind swirled. "She married Fugliano to mask _my_ scent?"

Grover's left eyebrow shot upward. "Fugliano?"

"Don't question it."

Annabeth was stifling her laughter off to my right, snorting into her hand.

"Okay, i won't. But yes, she married him because he smelled so human that he could cover the scent of any demigod."

"He's the world's worst demigod-air freshener." I grumbled. Grover's lips twitched upwards slightly.

"He worked well though. It took me a half a semester to actually be able to smell you, and even though you were only near him for a few hours on that Friday, it masked a great portion of your scent."

"And now?"

Grover shrugged. "I smelled him the moment I got out of the van. Even now, your godly scent is disappearing"

"Great, where's the nearest shower?"

Annabeth choked into her fist, trying to control her laughter. I couldn't even get mad at her, I'd do the same thing if I were overhearing this type of dialogue.

I sighed. "Let's leave before I smell enough like Gabe that I start attracting zombie flies."

ȣ

We arrived early for the bus with absolutely nothing to do.

We had easily an hour's wait for the next bus, so we were antsy.

Annabeth suggested we play hankysack with an apple, but only 3 minutes in it got too close to Grover's mouth and it disappeared - stem, core, seeds, and everything in between. Annabeth and I were too busy laughing for Grover to apologise, so all he gave us was a guilty grin full of apple pulp.

No one else appeared at the bus stop, which was relieving. I practiced my sword sparring skills for a half an hour, and was rewarded with the familiar sight of a bus. The digital letters on the front read 'Union City, New Jersey - Final Destination'

"Ugh, finally," Annabeth declared. "We're actually going somewhere."

"Shut up, bird brain."

"Whatever, trash brain." She retorted back instantly, slinging the string bag off her shoulder. She opened it and pulled out a wad of cash. "Is this enough?"

My eyes widened. "Uhum.. I mean, it's too much but-"

"Great, let's go!" With that, the blonde bounced to the bus as it was pulling to a stop.

The doors swung open and we boarded, Annabeth paying the bus man with a hearty tip and dashing her way to the back of the long row of seats. She plopped down on the very last seat, watching us with an intense glare that told us we had no other choice than to sit there.

I glanced at each passenger as I made my way to Annabeth, paranoia telling me that any of them could be a monster in disguise.

By the time I sat down next to the blonde, my mind was filled with all the worst case scenarios.

"Seriously? The back of the bus?" I hissed. Annabeth shrugged.

"We can see everyone from this location."

I rolled my eyes and slumped against the back window watching us as we started moving.

"Goodbye New York," I mumbled low enough so the others couldn't hear me. "Maybe forever."

ȣ

Oh dear gods of Olympus do I wish I could tell you that the bus ride went smoothly.

Did I mention that being a demigod is dangerous? Here is a great example of that.

Not long after we left the bus stop, we did our last pickup, somewhere further south than our loading location.

There were only three people waiting at that stop - The Garbage Grandmas.

Yes, garbage was the nicest way of putting that down.

Where do I even begin? They looked like a grey 60's hippie had a baby with a failed 80's disco queen and this was the result.

Their skin was grey and saggy, covered in what seemed to be wrinkles (or it could have been folds in their skin). Their nails were a nasty shade of yellow-brown, which matched their hair colour and teeth. The one of the left was clad in all yellow, and not the chipper tones. Her dress and coat were that of 7 year old mustard, her shoes a tattered white pair of uggs. The one of the left wore the exact same thing, only it was a sickly shade of serpent green instead of mustard yellow. Her black eyes darted across the aisle, like she was in search of something other than a seat. The one in the middle wore a plum-purple that did nothing to help her appearance.

I gasped in shock. Upon further inspection, I noticed how the middle grandma looked so familiar.

Like, oh I don't know, a demon pre-algebra teacher I accidently murdered.

I sunk down in my set. "Oh my gods, please tell me that's not her?"

"Who?" Annabeth looked at me in mild annoyance. Grover, on the other hand, had turned a shade of powdered milk.

"3 of them. All 3 of them. This isn't good."

"3 of what?" Annabeth hissed.

"Kindly Ones." I breathed. "Al-"

"Don't say her name!" grover whispered-yelped, slapping his hand over my mouth.

Annabeth's eyes widened. She waved Grovers hand away from my mouth.

"They're here for me. I killed the one in purple."

"You killed her." Annabeth's voice grew deadly. "How?"

"I swung a sword…" I admitted. "And she went up in white powder."

"Oh gods, you killed a torturer of the Underworld. Dude, that's Field of Punishment worthy."

"Gee, thanks for the optimism. Highly appreciated."

Annabeth glared at me. After a moment, she pulled out her hat.

"They're here for you. To get to Union City, we have to go through Lincoln tunnel. They'll use the dark to hide their attack. You need to get out of here."

I blinked. "What's a Yankee's cap gonna help me with? Keeping the hair out of my eyes when they attack me?"

"No, Dove Boy, it's an invisibility cap." To demonstrate, she pulled the cap on her head and she rippled out of existence.

"It should help them not see you." The disembodied voice of a certain annoying daughter of Athena said. She rippled back into my vision.

"Okay, then what do we do? There isn't exactly any exits."

"How do you know?"

I pointed to the windows. "Those are bolted and sealed." I said. Then I pointed behind us. "That exit never existed because there are seats there, which we are slumping in right now. And that," I pointed to the driver "is the only dude who can open the doors."

Annabeth frowned, scanning the area for possible escapes. I saw the entrance to Lincoln tunnel in the distance, proving that we didn't have much time.

"We'll figure something out." She mused. "You just need to find a way off."

"What about you two?"

Annabeth fanned her hand at me. "We'll be fine. They won't bother a demigoddess and a goatman if they're after you."

Before I could argue, we plunged into the tunnel.

I saw the outline of Garbage Grannie number 1 stand up.

"Oh dear, it seems like I need to go to the bathroom." her monotone voice stated, like she was reading from a teleprompter.

"Me too." Grannie number 2 stood up.

"Me three." The last grannie got up. Together, they paced down the dimly lit aisle. Before I could do anything, Annabeth slapped the cap on my head and shoved me out of my seat.

I watched in mild horror as my body disappeared from my sight. I scrambled to my feet and dashed as far up the walkway as I could, slipping silently next to a seat as the grandmas passed.

Mrs. Dodds paused for a moment sniffing the air. I held my breath, hoping that the few minutes near Gabe's house was enough to mask me from the demon's nose.

Mrs. Dodds kept walking forward. I nearly fell out of my hiding spot, stalking up to the busdriver.

I heard a shriek from the back of the bus. I turned around to see that the grannies lost their puke clothes in favour for whips and linen wraps. Annabeth had her hands held defensively over her face.

"Where is it?" the one on the left said, lashing her whip at Grover.

"He just left, it's just us. It's just us."

The demon wasn't satisfied with such an answer.

Anger boiled in my chest. No one was going to hit my friends, servants of Hades or not.

I took the steering wheel and jerked it to the right. The driver exclaimed in shock as the bus lurched sideways, skidding against the wall.

Everyone got thrown to the side, including the garbage grannies. Annabeth yelped in shock as the driver tried to gain control of the steering wheel.

"Let go." I mumbled, channelling my newfound ability of persuasion. The driver's eyes glazed over and his hands went slack.

I jerked the bus to the left as we sailed out of the tunnel, going 90 miles an hour.

I saw the cars ahead and did the first thing that came to mind - stop.

I pulled the emergency break, causing the bus to spin out of control. We did one full circle, then another, crashing into a ditch. The passengers screamed and the doors flew open as a mass of people fled outside. Even the driver flew out of the doors, dashing as far away from his bus while screaming 'devil vehicle' as the top of his lungs.

I pulled the cap off my head.

"Hey Garbage Grannies!" I shouted. "Braccas meas vescimini!"

I didn't know where the latin came from, but I am pretty sure I just said 'eat my pants'.

Mrs. Dodds scowled, turning to glare at me. Her whole body twisted and she stalked to me, her whip slicing through everything it touched.

"Where is it?" Her voice was drier than the Sahara, cracking like a firework.

"Wouldn't you like to know." I muttered, pulling Riptide out of my pocket and uncapping it. The blade hummed in my hands, seemingly happy to be out of pen form. I assumed battle stance, watching with rage as the other two followed my ex-teacher.

"You are foolish, young one." The one in green sneered, glaring at my blade.

"I don't care." I admitted. "And I will never care. But you should, for I already killed Alecto prior to this."

Mrs. Dodds flinched at the use of her real name. She hadn't been expecting that.

"What, embarrassed some measly child of love slayed you in one blow?"

The other two tethered on their feet, obviously uncomfortable.

"Watch your mouth, child, or I'll shred you to pieces with my bare hands."

"Hit me with your best shot."

I lunged at her. The one in yellow lunged out to protect her sister, only to go up in a puff of white as my blade sliced through her.

Alecto screeched, flicking her whip at me. It wrapped around my wrist like molten lead and I gasped in pain, dropping my blade.

The green one went to attack, but she went up in a column of smoke as Annabeth's blade ran clear through her neck. Grover smashed Alecto in the head with a plastic gift bag filled with crushed tin cans. The demon went crippling to the floor, the whip losing it's grip on me. I quickly snached Riptide up and stabbed her in the stomach. I grabbed Annabeth by her wrist with my free hand and we stumbled out of the bus.

We had only made it a few hundred feet before Annabeth yelped. "Our bag!"

We turned around just in time to see the bus go up in flames.

"Holy sh…"


	12. Hermes Express - Always A Head of you

**IMPORTANT NOTICE!**

 **AN: I will state this now.**

 **I WILL NOT BE ANSWERING GUEST REVIEWS IN MY STORIES.**

 **If you want answers, either log into an account and review OR send me a private message.**

 **I don't have the time to go in and write answers at the top of a chapter when I don't have a set publishment date.**

 **Thank you for understanding and enjoy the chapter**

ȣ

"A perfectly good bag of tin cans." Grover whined once again as we trudged down the side of an abandoned highway, miles away from the crash at Lincoln Tunnel. "Gone. Forever."

"Grover, please stop. That is not helping the mood." I mumbled, dragging my feet in the dust. Annabeth groaned in approval, holding her stomach.

"Not even 24 hours in and this quest is already going south. Literally." She grumbled, watching the sun start a sluggish sunset to our right.

I sighed and promptly sat down on the asphalt. "This is useless. We don't even know where we are!"

Annabeth collapsed next to me. "I don't care where we are, all I need to know is where is the nearest gas station. I'd kill for food right now, even gas station food."

"You can have your candy bars, but this boy needs a cheeseburger."

"Ooooh my gods, yeeeeeeeees." Annabeth drawled out. "With bacon."

"And mayo."

"French fries!"

Grover stared at us in disbelief. "Seriously you two?"

We went on, labeling types of food - pizza with olives, turkey blts, double stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches, so on so forth.

Somewhere along the line, I started smelling beef grease. Slowly, I stood up, sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that?"

Annabeth paused her rant about deep fried glazed doughnuts and sniffed the air. "Oh my gods, is that burger!"

She scrambled to her feet and we both looked to the south. In the distance was a glowing neon sign that had't been there before. It was barely close enough to make out, but the neon kept messing with my dyslexia.

"What on earth is a… Nuat Sme Dagern Pome… Er… um…" I rubbed the back of my next nervously.

"Aunt Em's Garden Emporium." Grover translated, glancing at us. "We shouldn't go-"

"Come on, I smell food." Annabeth's face grew fierce and she grabbed Grover by his jacket. He yelped as he was dragged towards the neon sign.

I followed, not thinking of the consequences that could happen.

ȣ

The place was obviously ran-down, and not in a homey way. Life sized statues littered the front of the building - a couple holding hands and sitting on a bench, a little girl in her sunday best holding a basket of easter eggs, a elderly man leaning on a crane dressed in Revolutionary War reenactment clothes. There were many more statues, too many to count, and they all had one thing in common:

Their faces.

The couple on the bench should have been smiling, so should the girl with the easter basket. Instead their faces seemed distorted, almost scared.

Annabeth stalked straight to the door and banged on it three times.

"Geez, knock the door down while you're at it."

"Shut up, Dove Boy."

"Don't call me that."

"Guys, that looks kinda like my Uncle Fernand." Grover bleated. We ignored him.

A few moments later, the door swung open to reveal a lady dressed from head to toe in black.

I literally mean it. Everything was covered, even her eyes. She had a head shawl and face cover on, sunglasses black as night dawned her exposed face, a black dress flowed like a waterfall down her arms and legs. She also had gloves on, as well as black shoes. It was like someone went all out on dressing for a funeral.

"Oh dear, children!" Her accent was definitely not New Jersey, but more elegant and… ancient. "I haven't had children here in a long time."

The words passed over me like whipped cream. I blinked a few times. _Whipped cream, seriously? Of all the similes you could have used, you used whipped cream._

"Sorry if we bothered you." Annabeth said politely, shocking me a little. The woman, whom I presume is Aunt Em, chuckled softly under her breath.

"Oh, it's quite alright dear. If you don't mind me asking, where are your parents?"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "We're orphans," I blurted out. "We live in a traveling circus, but we got lost."

Aunty Em clapped her hands together. "Oh, how horrible. Why don't you three come in, you must be starving. After you eat we could try and contact your circus leader."

Before I could say anything, Annabeth nodded eagerly and guided us inside, following the scent of fried meat.

I should have noticed the door shutting behind me and locking, but the smell in the room was captivating.

Aunt Em showed us to a breakfast bar, where she had us sit and wait while she cooked us something behind the wall, in the kitchen.

"Meat," Grover groaned. "I'm vegetarian."

"You eat tin cans and cheese enchiladas." Annabeth pointed out.

"Both are very healthy vegetables." The satyr protested, causing the daughter of wisdom to smirk.

"Guys, cut it out." I swatted at them. "Something seems very wrong here."

"What do you mean? We just got offered free food." Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched together.

"By a lady who is covered head to toe in pure black and wears sunglasses inside." I said, keeping my voice low. "Who even does that?"

Annabeth scowled. "Percy, it's not nice to judge someone's religion."

I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The lady is obviously Muslim." Annabeth concurred. "That's why she covers up. Isn't it obvious?"

"Okay, then explain the creepy statues up front." I retorted. Before she could say anything, Aunty Em walked out with three trays of food filled to the brim with juicy burgers and steaming fries.

She slipped them down in front of us and watched from behind the counter as we ate the food, not that much different than the way a hyena eats his dinner. We hadn't eaten much that day, or in my case _at all_ , so manners went out the window.

She gave us warm Cokes to wash down our meal with. It seemed like the nicest thing someone could do for us, but there was a lingering feeling of dread in the bottom of my heart. She not once took off her headscarf, nor her gloves. Not even her sunglasses, despite the fact the room was poorly lit.

"So dears, where are you from originally?" She holded her hands in her lap and crossed her legs. She seemed to look straight at me. "You, my dear, sound like you're from England."

My cheeks flushed. "O-oh oh no, sorry miss… I'm from New York - born and raised."

The woman clicked her tongue softly. "Such a shame, it is very beautiful there, in England. You'd like it. And you, sweetie?"

She turned her head slightly to the left to look at Annabeth. She whipped her mouth with a paper towel that Grover had previously claimed as his meal. If Aunty Em saw the bite marks on the cloth towel, she didn't mention any concern about it.

"Oh, I'm from Virginia." Annabeth stated proudly. "Or, at least, until I was 7."

"Being in the circus that long is very impressive, Annabeth Chase." The lady mused. Annabeth nodded in response, busying herself with her coke.

Grover coughed nervously into his fist. "Speaking of which, we should probably get going. Our ringmaster wouldn't like the fact we're already late."

"But you just got here," The woman said with a sweet cream tone to her voice. "At least let me take a picture, for reference for statue making."

"You make statues?" Grover's face went pale. The woman nodded.

"Oh yes, it gets quite lonely here. I'm a widow, you see." She said with a hint of sorrow in her voice. "My husband has long since passed, and so have my sisters. My statues are my only company."

"You certainly have a lot of them," I noted, thinking about the field of them outside.

"Indeed." The woman agreed. "You three wouldn't mind me making statues out of you? I know I shouldn't have demanded it like that-"

"Oh we'd be honoured!" Annabeth nearly sent her stool flying across the room. Her eyes sparkled wildly with wonder.

"Uh, I don't think-" Annabeth's hand slapped over Grover's mouth, silencing him. The woman stood up and dusted the wrinkles off her gown. She waved her hands, signalling for us to follow her.

Annabeth scrambled after her, tugging Grover along.

I followed, an uneasy feeling hanging low over my head.

ȣ

She led us back outside, where the sun had made use to it's grave. The light of the neon sign was like a beacon, giving the stone-ridden lawn an alien aesthetic feel to it. The faces watched us in their horrified state, like this was a scene in a horror movie and we were about to be slaughtered.

She guided us to a stone bench that looked older than me. Annabeth sat down on one side, motioning for me and Grover to sit down too. Reluctantly, I sat down next to Annabeth while Grover sat at the other end of the bench. The three of us, side by side, looking like a tattered picture brought to life.

The woman had us make a couple adjustments - My arm around Annabeth's waist, her arm around my neck, My other arm around Grover's neck, and Grover removing his tattered beanie.

It was the weirdest picture position I've ever been in, and considering Aphrodite's blessing _still_ hasn't worn off, I looked like a tween model with two average looking friends.

"Now smile, the faces are always the hardest to capture." She chided. Annabeth nodded and put on her brightest smile. Her face glowed pink in the light of the neon sign, making her look a little older than 13. Grover's smile was shaky, his eyes darting from statue to statue.

Something tugged at the back of my brain. Something didn't seem right about all this. The unhealthy amount of statues, the weird way their faces were, the hissing sound of the fries I could have sworn she had turned off.

The women tsked. "Oh dear, it's much too dark for me to see. I should take my sunglasses off. This might take a moment."

She went up to take off the shades just as everything clicked into place.

How she knew Annabeth's name. Why there were so many statues. The hissing of the fryers. The clothing choice. Even the name.

Aunty Em.

 _Em._

 _ **M.**_

 _ **M for Medusa.**_

"GET DOWN." I yelled, charmspeak rippling through the air. I took Annabeth and Grover by their shirts and yanked them backwards. We went crashing onto our backs as the sound of hissing got louder.

The snake haired lady sighed. "Oh dear, you've made this more complicated now, you three would have been perfect statues, forgetting all about this silly quest you had to go on."

I rolled onto my stomach and struggled to get up. My foot hit the back of the

Annabeth snapped out of the daze she seemed to have been in. Her eyes widened in shock and she pulled out her Yankees cap. In one rushed movement she crammed the hat on her head. She rippled out of existence.

"Close your eyes," She hissed in my ear. I did as she said, not wanting to be turned into stone like all the other poor people who had.

I heard Grover and Annabeth scramble to their feet and retreat away from the stone bench. I barely had enough time to scamper away before the sound of stone crumbling hissed behind me.

"Oh, you demigods are like little snakes," Medusa chided, her voice tinted with agitation. "No one wants to sit still for a nice picture now a days. Too picky about their death."

How I managed to get up on my feet still eludes my mind, but I was thankful that I could walk. With my luck, I could have broke my leg.

I tried to remember how she was originally killed. It wasn't that hard, since it was my namesake who slayed her, Perseus. Be she was unaware of his presence until it was too late. She was also pregnant.

I silently prayed to my mother that she was _not_ pregnant again, I'd rather not witness some weird creature being born from her blood.

Did she have blood?

Something pulled me to the side. Grover's clopping next to be gave way to the recent development that he lost his shoes, or they had had slipped them into his free hand so he could run faster..

"Percy you're gonna have to cut her head off."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say to me!" I defended. "I'd rather not get charged with murder."

"Percy please, this is not the time." His voice trembled.

I sighed. "How, I can't see her. She's poisonous-"

"Venomous," Grover corrected. I scowled.

"Same diff. She's got claws, boar tusks, and stone cold eyes. Literally. What do I have that she doesn't?"

"Your voice?" Grover offered. "And your sword."

"Yay, I'll sing her to sleep as she chops me to bits."

Grover was silent for a moment, stopping in his tracks. "That…. That's not a bad idea, actually."

"Well kill me the day I sing my way out of a fight. This isn't a f**king musical."

Grover sighed. "Hang on, I'll find you a shie-" he ran right into a stone statue. I risked a glance, staring face to face with a 20 foot grizzly bear with a look of terror on it's face. His shoes dangled around his neck.

I stifled a laugh. "Grover, you have flying shoes."

"Oh right. My bad."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and turned right back around to attempt to kill Medusa.

ȣ

Annabeth was screaming bloody murder.

I couldn't see her, since I had my eyes closed, but also because she still had her hat on.

How did I know? Good question.

She told me.

Haha yeah all of this already happened to me, I'm ancient compared to 12, almost 13, Percy.

Oh um… *clears throat*. Right, where were we?

Annabeth almost becoming an angry statue?

Oh yes, let's continue.

"You look just like your mother," Medusa hissed, long gone the nice smooth voice she had minutes before. Now it sounded like a million snakes in an choir.

For a moment I thought she was talking about me.

I stood in confusion. "Wait, I do?"

I heard Annabeth facepalming to my right.

Medusa paused. "No dear, I was talking to the cursed child of Athena." She said 'cursed' like 'curse-said'. Her voice went back to the smooth butter tone.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, well… Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"Yes." The gorgon said slowly. "Was it not clear enough?"

"When people say 'You look like your mother', they typically mean you look very beautiful."

Medusa seemed to ponder a minute. "Well, then what do I say?"

"I don't know, why were you insulting her in the first place?"

Annabeth sighed softly, like she already knew and wanted to call me Dove Boy or something.

Medusa probably scowled. "It was her mother who did this to me, who made me…. _This_."

Something brushed against my right ear. "Keep her talking. There is a glass sphere to your left, about 5 feet. Use it to see her."

Then Annabeth was gone.

I took a deep breath and started shifting to my left very very slowly. "Athena. She found you in her temple performing an horrendous act." I recalled.

Medusa hissed. "The goddess was always stuck up and all about herself."

I hid a frown. "You were dating someone and you two met at the base of her alter."

"Oh yes, one of the last moments of pleasure I had." Medusa mused. "Seems like eons ago."

"It was." I deadpanned.

"Oh yes… Uh, what is the phrase you mortals us today?"

"'It felt like it was just yesterday'?" I offered.

"Oh yes, that one. That's what I meant."

My hand slipped around the glass orb.

"What are you doing?" The monster… if you could call her one, hissed. I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could.

"It's so I can see you." I steadied more voice, keeping calm. "You must be very beautiful."

I swore I heard Annabeth gag on my words. I gently turned around, and opened my eyes to see a green hollow glass bulb the size of a volleyball in my hands. I held it up to my face, getting it as close as possible to my face as I could get it to, and turned around.

What I saw made no sense to me.

It was almost like looking through layers of broken stained glass. Row after row of new images that just _didn't add up_.

She wasn't necessarily _ugly_ , it's more of a frankenstein image. Or maybe a Photoshop project gone wrong.

Her eyes were a nearly opaque shade of deep emerald green, a thin outline of a yellow circle peaking through were her iris were. Her skin would weave in and out of scales and a coppery bronze, like it couldn't decide to be acne proof or acne clear. Her hair snakes, like the stories said, but there was totally a full head of ebony hair that curled around each purple and green snake like a spring. Her mouth was plump and cherry red, but her teeth were black rooted and her boar tusks caused stretch marks to appear at the corners. She had tiny vipers for eyebrows, and they were weaved so they could stay in place (which was a really funny sight).

She raised a snakey eyebrow. "You don't looked horrified."

I started to shake my head, but then reminded myself that I couldn't because I would be one very confused statue. Maybe the first one.

"You don't look like how they describe you." I said softly. "Er… I mean, you look more… human."

Medusa's mouth dropped a little. "Human?You're kidding, right?"

"Did you curly black hair as a mortal?" I blurted. Her eyes widened.

"Yes… yes I did. How did you-"

"Amber eyes? Creamy Copper skin?"

"How did you know that?!" She demanded, her accent thickening. "Did he tell you? Did your father tell you?"

I frowned. "My father? Sorry, never knew him."

She took a step forward. I felt a sudden urge to jump to the side. Her hands were clawed, but also manicured. It was like she had fake nasty black and orange nails glued under red and nude flower designs on her real nail. Her palm and backhand were the same confusing waviness of scales and skin.

"You smell like him." She commented. In another situation, I would have choked on my laughter. Now? Those words chilled me to the bone.

"Um… thank you?"

She took another stride forward. "You even look like him. Everything, even the skin and eyes."

I saw movement in the corner of my mind. A blotch of purple in the vague shape of a person.

Purple people? Hey it could be worse; there could be a purple people eater. Maybe it was on my side?

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry, really, but I have no idea who you're talking about. My father… I never knew him. He left me."

Medusa snarled. "Naturally. He did the same to me."

Who the hell was she talking about?

She was now close enough for me to hear the hissing of her viper-filled hair.

'Help me, Help me.' they seemed to whisper. 'Help me'.

I thought I was hearing things.

"Your father was a great man, but he was out for blood. He told me she wouldn't hurt me. Have you seen what's she's done to me?!"

She gestured to her face. "Look at me, I am hideous."

"Not really," I admitted. "I mean it's a little confusing, but you not hideous."

"That's what he said." She said glumly. "That was eons ago."

"I'm sorry, eons?" I choked. "No, you must be mistaken, my father can't be eons old."

"Of course he is, your godly parent is Po-"

"Aphrodite"

She paused. "Wait… your parent is Aphrodite?"

"Um, yeah. Who did you think it was?"

I didn't notice the charmspeak.

"Poseidon." She admitted. "You do look like him."

I groaned. "Well you're not the first one."

"They sent a petty son of Aphrodite to kill me?" She mumbled angrily. "Maybe that's why that Thena girl is here. A huge laugh to my face. You shall not have the luxury of a painless stone death. I shall tear you apart with my bare hands!"

She lunged forward, but at the same time an unidentified flying object with furry hindquarters rammed into the side of Medusa's head.

Grover's legs flew back a little.

"DID I HIT HER?" He yelled back, then slammed face first into a tree, crippling to the ground. Medusa screeched with rage and Annabeth materialized next to Grover.

I took out Riptide, the blade growing to life. I looked down at the gorgon at my feet. For just a moment, her image flashed to what she was before that night at Athena's temple - Black coily hair, amber eyes, and beautiful copper skin.

"I'm so sorry for this," I whispered.

In one swift motion, my blade met her neck and her body erupted into white cocaine-like powder.

Something wet hit my shoes and I dropped the glass ball and my sword and covered my eyes.

"Ew what the f**k was that!" I gasped out, moving my head up and pulling my hands down to my neck. "I thought monsters don't bleeeeeeed!" I shouted to the sky. Something pulled at the laces of my shoes.

"Percy hold still." Annabeth said, rushing over to me. "Whatever you do, don't look down."

"Don't need to tell me twice." I grumbled. I watched her as, with her head facing the sky, she pulled out a black cloth bag the size of a basketball and bent down. She picked up something, shoved it in, and handed it to me.

"Ew no get that thing away from me? What even is it?" I protested, taking a step back.

"A spoil of war, Dove Boy. Medusa's head, with stone turning abilities and all."

She shoved the bag into my arms. "You killed her, her head is yours."

"I'm no queen, but I believe that is not what people mean with 'Off with her head.'"

Annabeth glared at me. Grover limped over to us. The daylight was gone now, leaving a dark sky overhead.

"What do we do now?" He whispered. I looked down at the cloth bag, golden liquid staining my hands.

Rage filled me. She gotten this fate because of, not one, but two gods - Athena and Poseidon. Now that she had mentioned it, I could recall the story perfectly. Poseidon was mad at Athena for many things - Athens being one of the main reasons, and had decided to meet up with one of her Priestess. Medusa hadn't wanted a relationship but she couldn't say no to a god and quickly fell into a puppy love phase that involved very many graphic details. Athena saw this and got enraged that Poseidon was doing this to her priestess and cursed Medusa, along with her sisters.

For no reason other than _Poseidon didn't get along with Athena_.

I turned on my heels and stormed back to the store. Grover yelped in surprise and clopped after me.

"Percy!"

I nearly flung the door of it's hinges, stomping down the hallways to a room I remembered seeing before.

I turned left into a room filled with person sized boxes. I flung Medusa's head onto the table, a sickening thunk sounded on the hollow wood. My gold covered hands flew to one of the cabinets and pulled out a beige paper.

 **DOA Recording Studios - Entry to the Underworld**

 **Southern Los Angeles**

 **50 drachma shipping fee**

 **Warning: Dead soul might still be in studio - Handle with Caution**

"Usefull," I murmured, then shoved the paper into my pocket. I kept shuffling around the office until I found what I was looking for: A box.

Hermes Express was written in block letters on one side. A piece of paper and a leather pouch were stapled to it.

I opened the box just as Grover and Annabeth stumbled in.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth said, gasping for air. I didn't say a word, turning around and plucking Medusa's body bag (head bag?) from the table and shoved it into the box.

I found tape and a pen, closed the box, signed the paper and took a deep breath.

 _To: Olympus, 600th Floor, Empire State Building, New York_

 _From: Keep reading_

 _Personal Message (Optional): A small token of complete gratitude from one soul to a group of gods. Hope you enjoy._

 _With Best Wishes,_

 _Perseus James Jackson, son of_ _ **APHRODITE**_

I pulled out 4 drachma's the shipping fee for the package, and slipped them into the leather coin bag.

Automatically, the bag zipped itself up with the sound of a cash register clicking open and the box lifted into the air. In a flash of gold light, it evaporated from my sight and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.

I gingerly picked up the paper.

 **Thank you for using Hermes' Overnight Express. You package will arrive at it's destination at 3:03 am OLST June 13th. Have a Nice Day!**

"Percy, what did you do?" Annabeth leaned over my shoulder, having paced over to me.

"Nothing, justing being _a head_ of the game."

She smacked me upside the head.

"Lets go get some sleep," Grover offered. I nodded.

"Just… not here."

I put the piece of paper down on the table and followed the goatman out of the office.


	13. I shall kill the pink poodle dyers

We found a spot to lay down at a mile away. The road gave way to artificially planted trees (like those horrible pines they plant in rows like crops to provide scenery), which we wandered into just as the stars were peaking out from behind some evening clouds.

Annabeth collapsed instantly, right below a random tree, curling up into a ball and started snoring before her head hit the bundled up jacket she insisted on bringing.

Grover and I made a fire together, out of dead twigs and pine needles the trees dropped and the workers didn't clean up. Grover went as far as trying to enchant the fire to keep it from spreading, but he nearly caught a tree on fire in the process. After a few more tries, I sweetly asked a dryad, who was watching us from her tree, to enchant the fire. She happily obliged.

Grover sat on a dryad-less tree branch, looking sad.

"You okay, G'man?" I mumbled, looking up at him from the base of Lacey's, the tree nymph who helped us, tree.

He sighed dramatically. "Look at all of this… This mess you humans make."

I glanced around. I hadn't noticed it before, but there was litter everywhere. A glass Coke bottle was caked in dirt a few feet away, a few Monster cans were crushed at the base of a few trees. A Lay's potato chip bag that was unopened was perched on a branch a few trees down. And that was only to name a few.

I frowned. "I get that a few crappy people do stuff like this, but this is easy to clean up."

Grover shook his head. His shoes fluttered in annoyance.

"This has been going on for centuries. 2 thousand years, if you want to be accurate."

I choked. "2 _thousand_?"

Grover nodded glumly. Annabeth snored.

"It all started when a mortal fisherman heard a cry from land. 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead'."

I frowned. "Cooking spray?"

Grover pierced his lips. "Pan, Percy."

"Same diff."

"S'not." Grover slurred softly. I shook my head and rolled my hand, signalling for him to continue.

"Well, the fisherman told the townsmen when he docked his boat and the news spread like fire. No one really knew that gods could just _die_."

"Well neither did I." I commented. "How does that even happen."

Grover shrugged. "Dunno. All I know if that we refused to believe he died."

"We… satyrs you mean?"

He nodded. "Nymphs too. Nature spirits are closely tied to Pan, because he's the Lord of the Wild. He was also a satyr."

I nodded, taking in this new information. "So nature spirits refused to believe he died? How is that important."

Grover fiddled with his reed pipes. "I want to go searching for him. For Pan. To be a seeker. The mortals have filled with world with trash, not taking care of it correctly. Only Pan can reverse this."

"Right before we left," I recalled. "Chiron mentioned a Seeker. Is that what it is: the job to seek out the god Pan?"

Grover's face was dimly lit, but I could make out the tears in his eyes. "Yeah. I've been trying for years, but it's only for the best of the best. My grandpa goat did it, so did my dad and my uncle Fernand."

"Yeah, sorry about him," I winced, thinking about the statue comment he made earlier.

Grover waved his hand. "No one comes back from being a seeker alive. I'm going to be the first."

I smiled a little at the braveness in his voice. Until the words hit me.

"Wait, no one came back alive after 2 thousand years?"

"Thanks, Perce, for reminding me." He whispered.

I shook my head. "Sorry doesn't suit you, G'man. If anyone tells you that you can't go it, I'll slug that son of a b**ch in 'er smug little face."

The sides of Grover's mouth twitched up slightly at the curse word.

"If anyone could do it, it will be you."

My charmspeak was thick in my voice, but I highly doubted it would do anything to affect Grover. I actually believed he could do it. I could see him finding the god and bringing him back for the whole world to see.

I could see Grover being a Seeker.

"We should get some sleep," The satyr yawned. "We have a long day tomorrow."

ȣ

I woke up to a weird coolness rippling over my face.

I sat up, sputtering water from my mouth, eyes wide. "What the ever living f**kin sh** was that?"

Annabeth snorted, falling over in laughter. Grover hid his smile in his hand.

"What?" I demanded.

"I poured a bottle of water on you." Annabeth admitted. "You drool in your sleep."

I scowled. "Do not."

"Do too."

Something barked.

I blinked once, then rubbed my eyes. "Is that… is that a pink… a pink poodle?" I stuttered.

Grover grimaced as the dog barked again. "Yes he is. Percy, this is Gladiola. Say hi."

The dog barked. I stayed silent.

Annabeth scowled. "Say hi to Gladiola."

"I am not saying hi to a pink poodle." I crossed my arms. Annabeth picked up the toy poodle and shoved it close to me.

The dog growled. I said hi.

"Why is Gladiola here anyways?" I said, inhaling the potato chips I noticed the night before. They expired next month, so I assumed they were safe.

Grover smiled sheepishly. "He's our ticket west."

I paused my inhaling. "Wait what?"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "You have a littl-"

I glared at her and ate another chip. She smirked.

Grover sighed. "Gladiola ran away from home, he doesn't like his owners. First of all, they don't even get his gender right. Second, they've been dying his coat pink for years."

I almost choked. "They've been doing what?!"

Grover opened his mouth to answer, but I had already sprang into action. I snatched the poodle, grabbed the nearest bottle of water, and started scrubbing the dog's fur coat.

The dog started to protest, but I growled at him and Gladiola shut up.

The satyr and demigod watched me with a mix of horror and fascination as the pink came out of the dog's mane with ease. Within a minute, the poodle was pure white and completely dried.

"I will kill the pink poodle dyers." I found myself muttering more than once.

When I was done, I set the poodle down on the grass. Gladiola shook his body, seemingly annoyed.

"How did you do that?" Grover mumbled, in shock. "How does hair dye even come out like that?"

I looked down at my lap, which was covered in bright pink. I shrugged. "Maybe it's an Aphrodite thing?"

The poodle glanced at me, then bowed his head.

"Gladiola says thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, your owners are going to get an earful of this…" I frowned. "Wait, why were we talking about his owners?"

Annabeth gasped. "Oh right. Gladiola agreed to let us turn him in because the cash reward should be enough to get us to… where ever we need to be."

"LA."

Annabeth frowned. "How did you know that?"

I pulled out the piece of paper from Medusa's place. The gold blood had dried to a cakey copper, which was really cool because it looked like real metal.

I handed it to the daughter of Athena.

"Oh my gods, this is amazing… Why is it named 'Dead on Arrival' Recording Studio?"

I shrugged. "Maybe because people usually are dead when they arrive?"

She glared at me. I smiled innocently and ate another chip.

Grover explained how we just 'accidently' found the dog, who just so happen to have been in front of a sign for 'her'.

I nodded the entire way, only thinking about food.

Soon we were moving again this time towards the rich persoon village just across the wooded area, or about a mile and a half.

We followed the poodle.

Gladiola was fast for something with legs that were about 2 inches tall. He bound down the streets in the cool air of a 6 am morning, taking twists and turns until we arrived at a house easily the size of the _street_ I use to live on.

"Holy f**k." I whispered, looking up at the white and gold mansion.

"I know." Annabeth whispered back in pure awe. "It's beautiful-"

"-Huge"

We looked at each other. Grover trotted to the door and rang the doorbell.

A woman in a bright pink face mask, a fuzzy white robe with fancy calligraphy stitched over her heart, and blonde hair rolled up in curlers answered the door.

"Can I help you?" She frowned, looking at our clothes.

"Yes, you can," I smiled with a fake sweetness. "Your dog filed an owner's complaint pamphlet."

My smile dropped into a glare and my voice turned into an angry charmspeak tone. "We have a lot to talk about."

ȣ

An hour later we were back on the street, prize money in our pockets and our ears ringing.

"You really gave them an earful," Grover whispered. "I can't believe you managed NOT to curse."

I held a hand over my heart, then corrected my mistake, switching so it was my right hand over my left chest. "You wound me."

He smiled weakly. Annabeth sighed loudly.

"Can't we call a cab?"

"We could steal a car." I offered.

"That's not a bad idea." Annabeth shrugged.

"We are not stealing a car." Grover protested.

We decided to stop at a cafe, buy some drinks and food, and ask the owner to phone a cab for us.

I ate my muffin on the way to the train station, in which we had decided on using because ships are practical, we were too young for cars, and planes would get us killed.

The entire ride was silence, with the cab driver glancing back at the 3 kids dressed in formalwear that the Johnathans, Gladiola's owners, had insisted on giving us after I scowled them on treating their dog like a show pup, and covered in bruises.

In fact, we didn't say a word until we payed for our tickets, and that was because the guard tried to kick us out.

All I had to tell him was 'you never saw us, now walk away and go eat some doughnuts' and he did.

Finally, after ages pasted, we collapsed into seats.

Grover fell asleep as soon as he hit the seat, leaving only me and Annabeth.

Annabeth nudged my ribs somewhere in West Virginia, a few hours after we left.

"Hey. I'm bored."

I glanced at her. She was tapping her hand on the armrest and was glancing between me and the window.

"Well then stop being bored." I stated firmly, then looked back out the window I was sitting next to.

"Charmspeak doesn't work like that."

"I don't care."

"Why are you mad at me?"

I pierced my lips. "I'm not mad, I've just got a sarcastic british accent."

It took her a moment to realise I was being sarcastic.

"Very funny."

"The hell do you wanna talk about?" I turned back to look at her. Her cuteness seemed to have worn off of me, leaving me irritated and on the edge.

"Dunno, maybe the fact hell doesn't _exist?_ " She stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, well do you prefer 'the f**k' instead?"

"Well, no-"

"Then it's final, I'll be saying 'the hell'." And with that I turned back to look out the window.

She sighed and stayed silent for a few miles. I watched a loin with gold fur and mane roar atop a hill as we zoomed by. A few centaur families waved happily at the train was we past by, their babies trotting around wildly with their heads flopping back and forth like bobble heads.

"Tell me about you mother."

I turned to look at the blonde girl.

"Well she's a goddess… you would know that."

"No, Dove Boy. Your mortal one, the one who raised you."

I frowned. "Well what do you want to know? I mean, she probably isn't my real mother."

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I had an older brother when I came to camp, years ago. His name was Jamison."

I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. "Okay, what's so special about him?"

"He had two moms." Annabeth fumbled with her bead necklace. I recognised some beads, there were similar ones on the zombie oracle. "He was 100% Athena's, but when she claimed him, she sent a note saying that he had two moms, not a mom and dad."

I blinked. "What does that have to deal with me."

"Demigods are unique, we don't follow the rules of mortal science or nature." Annabeth explained. "We have half our DNA missing, for starters. But an important thing to know is that gods aren't solid, if you know what I mean."

"I don't, but keep going."

She frowned, like she wasn't use to explaining her way of thinking.

"They can change shape. Like how Zeus lured Europa away from her friends, or he transformed into a cukoo for Hera."

"Okay… And?"

"Well, why couldn't they change gender?" Annabeth offered. "It's probably not common, something Chiron can count on one hand per three hundred years, but there are cases that demigods are born of same sex relationships.

I thought for a moment. "My mom never told me my father's name… She never even mentioned a gender, now that I think about is."

"See!" Annabeth exclaimed, causing Grover to be startled awake.

"TIN CANS!"

"Grover, go back to sleep." I said. His eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out again.

Annabeth smiled. "Handy trick."

"No idea how to shut if off." I admitted. "It's a curse."

Annabeth shook her head. "A curse? Percy, you have powers. Powers are only a curse if you let them control you."

"And do you have any powers?"

Annabeth frowned. "Olive plants grow like crazy around me, but I don't think that's a power. It's more like getting freckles."

I snorted into my hand. "Olive Girl."

She glared at me "What the hades, Percy!"

"You call me Dove Boy, then I'll call you Olive Girl."

She scowled, causing me to laugh more.

"Okay but seriously. Powers?"

She shrugged. "I can read thick 700 paged books in an hour, but that's only if it's written in Greek." She said nonchalantly. "And I can use a knife really well."

I tilted my head. "So basic things I can't do."

She smirked. "Athena prides herself on being better."

I sighed. "So then what are you going to do when you're older."

She looked at me, confusion written all over her face. "What do you mean?"

"College major," I shrugged. "War strategy? Psychology? Tetris?"

"Percy, I don't think Tetris is a college course."

I thought for a moment. "You're right. It's an entrance exam."

She smiled a little. "Very funny, Jackson."

We stayed silence for a minute.

"Architecture." She decided. "I've been in love with it for as long as I can remember. It's been my dream."

I waited quietly for her to continue. Her eyes lit up to a silvery-mercury colour, brightening her face.

"Something permanent. Something forever, something to withstand the weather and the disasters."

"Something to last as long as Greece?" I offered. She nodded wildly, her curls bouncing.

My mind raced. 'Was that why she was so eager to get her picture taken by Aunty Em?', I thought. 'Something permanent, something to depict her for a long time to come?'

We stayed in a comfortable silence while we raced through farmland, cities, and woods. Annabeth and I took turns sleeping, and when we weren't sleeping we would play chess with the limited about of coins we had. A few times too many did Grover's shoes flutter off his feet. We giggled and shoved them back on, swearing to never tell Grover until he was older and we had more blackmail.

Soon we landed in St. Louis.

Annabeth shook Grover awake.

"Food?"

"Come on, let's go!" She squealed softly. I sat up, rubbing my eyes from my short nap.

"Are we in Angeles?" I muttered.

"No, even better."

"Home?" I offered. Annabeth frowned.

"St. Louis. Home of the Arch. Come on, we have to see it."

With that, she took me by my hand and yanked me to the door for yet another adventure.


	14. In emergencies, flip off the Anteater

No amount of charmspeak could shut Annabeth up.

No offense to her, she might read this one day, but she was annoying.

"Did you know…" she rambled on facts faster than our tour guide could, leaving my head spinning and throbbing. She talked about the structure, the materials used, the timeframe it was built in, it's history, why it was built, so on so forth.

It was a miracle I made it out of that informational tour without becoming deaf.

We waited in line for the elevator we'd have to go up in, tired and ready to collapse. Sleeping on a train is not fun, nor is it healthy… I think.

Grover shuffled nervously next to me, tapping his crutches on the floor like he was looking for something.

"What is it?" I whispered.

Grover sniffed the air.

"Underground… I hate being underground," he trembled softly. "Smells like monsters."

I look around. I definitely couldn't smell monsters, but I also didn't know what monsters smelled like either.

"Maybe we should turn-"

"Hey our turn is up! Come one." Annabeth grabbed me by my jacket and dragged me onto the circle ferris-wheel-style elevator.

Reluctantly, Grover shuffled after us, along with a fat lady and her pet Chihuahua that was just a little bigger than Gladiola.

Every molecule in my body screamed ' _Get out of there now!_ '

"Have a safe trip."

The tour guide sealed our coffin and we started moving.

ȣ

The ride was one of the worst things in my life.

My advice, if you are claustrophobic, DON'T GO TO THE ARCH.

The ride was stiflingly humid and warm, causing my new shirt to get uncomfortable.

"Hey…" I whispered to Annabeth.

She frowned. "What?"

"Didn't… uh," I pointed to our feet. "Doesn't our lovely friend from down below have a hat kinda like yours?"

Annabeth looked at her waist, where her tattered Yankees cap was looped around her belt loop."

"You mean the helm?" She whispered back. I nodded. She thought for a moment. "Yeah, I saw it when I went on… to a family reunion."

She eyed the lady and her dog suspiciously.

"It was hanging from his unfoldable chair."

Grover frowned at that statement.

"But it's different too." she pulled it off her loop. "Mine's plain…" She mouthed the word 'invisibility'. "His makes him nonexistent… it even radiates fear." She whispered as softly as she could.

I looked around the small elevator. "Does that mean he could be watching us right now and we'd never know?"

All three of us shivered softly. I tried to imagine a guy with blue fire hair standing right behind me, smirking and waiting for us to make one wrong step so we could fall.

There was a moment of silence, then the dog growled.

"Now now, Sunny," The lady chided softly. "Now is not the time."

I glanced at them. "Your dog's name is Sunny?"

"No," She said cheerfully, then stayed silent like that had cleared up everything.

I frowned, but shrugged it off. Maybe it was a seeing eye Chihuahua.

Barely a moment later, our coffin opened and I rushed forward before the tour guide at the top could tell us 'Welcome to the Gateway Arch.'

I immediately went over to the window, desperate to get a glimpse on who screwed up we were.

The Mississippi River chunged lazily below us, through the day had turned muggy and cloudy. Thunderheads bubbled up in the distance.

"I think I might get sick." I mumbled, watching the sky.

Grover crutched over to me, limping subtly to add to the illusion. "Please don't puke, this place isn't big enough for that chaos again.."

I tried to glare at him, but broke out in a smirk. "That was not my fault."

Grover shook his head in mock empathy. "Who knew Nancy was allergic to walnuts."

"Such a shame too, that cake was good…" I mused. Annabeth glanced at us from across the observation deck, but resumed inspecting the design of the structure in a pamphlet they gave her.

It stayed like that - with some people coming and going.

Gods only know how long we were up there, but when the man who worked there announced that the observatory would be closing in 15 minutes to allow some Christian Church group have it all to themselves, I nearly died of shock.

Annabeth looked up from her position at the furthest corner, frowning. Without a word, she shuffled to the elevator and climbed inside.

Before I could enter, the tour guide man put his hand out in front of me. "Sorry, this ride is full. You'll have to wait."

I opened my mouth, but Grover spoke first.

"Sorry sir, he and I can trade-"

"No, it's quite alright." I said calmly. "I'll wait for the next ride. You two don't ditch me."

Annabeth glared at me, but thankfully the guide just nodded and let the elevator close.

And then there was just me, the tour guide, the fat lady with her dog, and a family of 3.

The dog growled at me, it's beady black eyes glaring at me like a demon of sorts. The fat lady frowned.

"Now dear, this is not a good time."

The child in the room, a little boy about 5 years old, glanced over from where he and his parents were loitering at. He waved at the dog with a smile on his face.

"Look mommy," He squeaked. "Chee-wha-wha."

"That's nice dear." The lady said, glaring down at her phone. The boy started to hobble over, but his father grabbed him by the hood on his jacket, not once glancing up from his tablet.

The fat lady smiled at the boy, slightly annoyed. "Chimera, dear," She corrected. "Not Chihuahua. An easy mistake to make."

Wait…. Chimera?

I glanced at the fat lady, her forked tongue flickering through the air like a knife in soft butter.

I took a step back from her, eyes wide. She smiled wildly at me, her spiky teeth flashing yellow in the lights.

"Hello Perseus Jackson," She hissed, her pupils narrowing into slits. She blinked, her lids sliding horizontally around her eyes. Her skin rippled from an ashy white to a sickly green scaled thing. "My son has been waiting you."

I glanced at the black Chihuahua. It barked at me, then grew dramatically in size. I watched, frozen in place, as it went from the size of a pug to size of a bunk bed.

As it grew, it changed in appearance. It's head peeled itself in half much like someone slicing the Earth along its equator. The top half grew more cat-like, a mane made of blood red fur sprang to life atop it's scalp. The other half migrated down to it's chest and took the form of a goat. It's paws turned into hooves that badly needed a trim, it's body morphing into the shape of a lion but with the shaggy fur of a goat. Along its spine, it grew glittering black scales that raced their way to it's back. Where it's tail should have been was a pure black cobra with red eyes and venom dripping from it's mouth. It's collar also grew from the simple studded leather to a greasy black chain with bones the size of my torso tied to it with beige leather.

At least, I hope it was leather.

The name tag read:

 _ **CHIMERA - RABID**_

 _ **FIRE BREATHING**_

 _ **VENOMOUS**_

 _ **IF FOUND PLEASE CALL TARTARUS**_

 _ **EXT. 666**_

The boy whimpered and started backing away. Annoyed at her son, the woman looked up from her phone and almost dropped it in shock. The tour guide, who was originally distracted by his phone (Seriously, what was up with these people, they love their glow boxes), was now trying to stay calm and lead the family to the emergency exit.

"You should be honoured," The fat lady purred. "Zeus rarely lets me use my own brood to test a hero."

She held the simple string leash she had attacked to what use to be a Chihuahua loosely in her left hand. I doubted that it was strong enough to protect me from the monster.

"For I am Echidna, Mother of Monsters!"

I frowned, my mouth jumping to the first thing that came to my mind.

"Isn't that an anteater?"

She scowled. "How dare you insult me like that…" She started grumbling under her breath. I could only make out bits like 'blowtorch Australia', 'cursed mortals', 'make they wish they were ants', and a few more family friendly fun phrases.

She glared at me as her face turned a raging brown-green.

"You shall pay for that insult."

"It was a genuine question." I defended.

The Chimera lunged at me, it's 3 jaws snapping for me.

I lunged to my left, tucking into an awkward sideways roll.

Somehow I managed to get between the raging serpent lady and the 4 people trying to pry the emergency doors open.

The Chimera growled and the serpent head hissed at me as it's body tried to turn around.

The little boy shrieked with fear.

I pulled out Riptide from my pocket and uncapped it. The blade grew to a comfortable weight in the palm of my left hand and i gripped it tighter.

If she wanted to hurt those mortals, she'd have to go through me.

Echidna glared fiercely at me, narrowing her eyes so they look like weirdly shaped sticks.

"Hey Chihuahua," I taunted. I shifted my weight and ran straight for the monster, slashing for it's neck.

The goat's mouth opened wildly and I had a split moment of blank mindedness before fire boiled from the head like Old Faithful gone pyro fanatic.

My body was engulfed in white flames, my clothes charring dramatically as I sailed thru the column.

I felt every hair being fried off my body as I emerged through the other side of the monster.

A shiver spiralled down my back and goosebumps formed as I watched my hair grow make.

"The f**k." I mumbled, watching my arms. "Seriously, can this curse just wear off soon?"

I looked up and my stomach dropped.

Just a few feet from where the mortals were, a red lined hole had been burned into the metal framework of the Arch, leading straight to the outside world.

My jaw dropped lower than a Manhattan subway system.

"Holy sh… What… How…"

I glanced between the mortals, the hole in the wall, and the fuming monsters.

"Give up, hero," Anteater taunted.

I shifted Riptide from my left hand to my right hand, gripping to tighter.

I lunged once more, this time aiming for the goat instead of the collar.

Fatal mistake.

The Lion growled in alarm and something black slashed at my left shoulder, flinging me across the room and right next to the searing hole.

Pain blinded my vision with white and I slumped against the wall, my blade sailing out of the Arch and down into the lazy waters below.

I forced myself to my feet, the world blinking in and out of view. My shoulder burned fiery hot, blisters forming around the two small puncture wounds located near my collar bone. My right hand covered it as I tried to apply pressure to the wound. Surprisingly, it helped, but only a little.

Echidna snickered. "Don't make heroes like they use to, do they?" She chided, a sarcastic edge to her voice.

I gritted my teeth together, swaying side to side. The Chimera's lion smirked at me, like it was trying not to laugh. It seemed to have lost all interest in attacking me.

' _Catch, play, kill, eat,_ ' I thought glumly.

My hands trembled as I checked my pockets for Riptide. Chiron had said it would return, but there was nothing there.

Maybe it only returned as a pen? Maybe it was too far away. Maybe it had a conscious and thought I wasn't worthy of it or something.

With my luck, it was probably all three.

I glanced at the mortals once again. They were wide eyed, staring at me with pure horror etched onto their features. The little boy was in tears, hiding behind the tour guide's leg and watching me mourningfully.

If I died, would Ant lady and puzzle piece dog leave them alone?

I looked beside me, down at the waters of the Mississippi.

"Go on, jump." Echidna taunted. "Prove your bloodline as son of the Sea. The son of Poseidon"

Son of the Sea. Son of Poseidon

I took a shaky breath in. I was no son of the sea. I was the son of love. Son of Aphrodite.

The water might have helped me at camp, but it was probably the naiads. Naiads at camp love Aphrodite's children.

I wasn't sure any naiad down there knew I was here.

"You lack faith in the gods." She decided. "I do not blame you, what have they done for you other than point their fingers and blame you. You're better off dying now, the poison is already near your heart."

As she said it, a sharp pain filled my right chest. My breathing grew more and more laboured with each agonizing moment.

I was dying.

'I guess this is an easier way to get to the Underworld' I thought feverishly. I glanced back up at the Chimera. The goat's mouth glowed bright red, getting ready to blast me with heat and send me flying from the monument.

I cracked a grin. Then a laugh.

Echidna looked taken back.

"You're right." I admitted. "I have no faith in the gods. I don't trust them. I don't think I even like them."

She watched me, her pupils dilating.

"But, as one last wish, I want you to send a message to the king of the gods."

In one slow, sluggish movement, I pried my hand off my shoulder and curled my fingers into a fist.

I raised my middle finger at her.

"Tell him 'F**k you, I'm Aphrodite's son'."

Her eyes widened and I leaned to my right, sailing through the hole and to the Mississippi River.


	15. How to become the FBI's Most Wanted

All those people you tell you they see their life flash before their eyes, or see white light, or feel calm… Ya know you've seen them a time or two.

Well guess what.

They're f**king liars.

All I could think was:

 _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH.**_

No fancy smancy 'I saw myself as a child', or 'there was this white light, like God was guiding me back to earth'.

I just screamed.

The wind whistled in my ears and I closed my eyes, bracing for impact.

The only thing I seemed to think about was how falling into water from a height of a couple stories, or about 20 feet, is like hitting the concrete pavement.

I didn't want to see what would happen if I hit it from, oh say… maybe six hundred and thirty feet?

My heart stopped and I hit the water feet first at terminal velocity.

 _ **Flaaaaaaaboooom!**_

There was a moment of complete silence.

Then another.

And another.

Finally, I opened my eyes.

In front of me was a murky brown fog. For a moment, my mind was confused.

 _Why was there trash floating in mid air if I was in the Underworld?_

Something brushed up against my right shoulder and I yelped as a fish the size of Gabe swam past.

I looked up, the Gateway Arch looming above me like a mirage.

"Holy s**t." I mumbled. "How the f**king hell did I… But this isn't… What?"

I looked at my hands.

I wasn't wet but the soot was washed away. I waved my hands side to side, trying to shake some water on them, but there was this thin film of air surrounding me like I was a waterproof duck.

But I was cool too. Like, temperature. I'm not a cool person, I was just feeling the coldness of the water. The red hue my skin took on from that white blast the Chimera gave me was gone, though my skin looked a few shades darker than before.

Another thing - I couldn't feel pain.

The Chimera venom, which was supposed to be killing me, was flowing out of my shoulder wound like there was some form of a vacuum there.

My mouth hung open as the pale yellow fluid floated away from me and into the murky waters.

Something shiny caught my eyesight, just a little upstream from me.

Riptide was sunken blade-tip first into trash-marbled mud, the only things visible were the shell, the charms, and the hilt.

I tried to move forward, since it was only 3 feet away, but I was violently yanked back into place. I glanced at my legs, or at least where they should be.

Instead, cut across my mid thighs, were thick piles of the same mud holding my sword captive.

"Well f**k my f**kin life." I hissed, yanking at my leg. A soft voice tsked.

"My my, my cousins did not lie when they said you had a mouth to rival Triton's."

I stopped struggling and looked up at a girl that was glowing a translucent blue.

My breath got stuck in my throat. "M...M… Mom?"

The Sally-look-a-like smiled sadly. "No dear, I'm not Sally, I'm sorry. I am merely a messenger."

I shook my head. "I don't understand. You look…"

My voiced died. The lady hovered over Riptide like an illusion, just barely visible through the muck.

"Take the sword, Percy Jackson. You have gods on your side, ones who want you to succeed in your quest."

"Who would want me to succeed?" I mumbled glumly. "Everyone seems against me. Even my own sword."

"Your mother, Aphrodite, wants you to succeed." The lady smiled. "And so does my lord, Poseidon."

I frowned. I was kind of getting tired of the dude, but wisely I didn't mention it.

"Go to Santa Monica beach." She informed. "It's the will of your..." The lady flickered softly.

"Wait, who?" I stated. "It's the will of who?"

"I don't have enough time, the river is much to foul for me to stay much longer."

She reached out and cupped my face in her watery hands. A small current rippled through her fingers and into my hair.

"You are a brave one, Percy. Save Olympus for us."

She melted into the river, flowing over me and continued down the river behind me.

The large fish gaped at me with wide eyes, then shook its body and continued upstream.

Then I was all alone… again.

I took a deep breath in. "I won't fail."

I clawed my way out of the mud, which wasn't hard because the blessing my mom gave me repelled it like crazy. I yanked Riptide out of it's earthy prison, the blade humming happily in my hands. Trash plumed up all around me and I turned my face towards the sun.

Worst case scenario: I just killed everyone on that Arch and Anteater was still waiting for me.

A slightly better, though still bad, case scenario: They live and peg the explosion and damage on me, making me a terrorist.

Best case scenario, and by far the most improbable: They think Anteater attacked and that I was a brave soul who somehow defeated her.

Hope for the best - plan for the worst.

I emerged from the river, water beading off so I was completely dry.

A little girl dropped her ice cream.

"Daddy look, that boy just walked out of the river!" she exclaimed.

"That's nice dear." her father mumbled, craning his neck to see what was going on.

"But he's completely dry!"

"Mmmhm… cool."

I put my finger to my lips and waved her off, stumbling through the crowd in search of a blondie and a goat man.

I passed several news vans. I stumbled through the crowd, trying not to get noticed.

I heard only snippets of the reports.

"... Gateway Arch going up briefly in flames with 6 people still in the observatory. No confirmed fatalities."

"Police still have not confirmed the person behind this, but they have called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

I passed an ambulance, were the mother from the observatory was trying to tell him that there was a 'fire breathing Chihuahua that attacked a boy.' When she saw me, she pointed and started shouting 'That's him, he saved us!'

I got away as quickly as I could,

Finally, I found them.

Annabeth was standing on a park bench of sorts, glaring at the distance.

"What is going on?" Grover called up to other. She started shushing his loudly and waving her hand dismissively at him.

I glanced between the two, both of which were completely unaware of my presence.

I cleared my throat. "Well… I might be able to tell you."

Annabeth nearly fell off the table.

"What did you do?!" She nearly tackled me, grabbing me by my shirt collar.

I had to look away from her eyes. They had turned to a boiling storm-like colour, making her look like she's ready to shoot lightning from them.

"I didn't do anything, it was Anteater's fault."

Annabeth let go of my collar. "Anteater?"

I told them how everything went, from the moment they left on the elevator cart to finding them just moments before.

Annabeth was uncharacteristically silence, absorbing everything I told her.

She inspected my shoulder too by punching it and asked if that hurt, while Grover nervously tapped his winged Nike's on the ground.

"Santa Monica…" He mumbled. "We have to go, it's the will of a god."

"Or a monster," I pointed out. "She never really told me _who_ wanted me at Santa Monica."

Before Annabeth could comment on that, a new lady nearby blurted out something I wish she hadn't.

"... That's right John, according to police, this seems to have been an act of terror amongst the city. While motives are still unclear, police have confirmed that the person behind this is Percy Jackson, who was already wanted for questioning on the sudden disappearance of his mother just a few short weeks ago. According to police reports, Jackson detonated a bomb at the top of the Gateway Arch, but was confronted by a lady and her bloodhound. Jackson was wounded but escaped. Officials also confirmed that Jackson wasn't alone - a girl and boy around his age were spotted and are wanted for questioning. For our viewers at home: here are the images captured. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Jackson and his friends, please call the toll free crime-stoppers hotline and avoid confronting the 3 kids. Reporting live from St. Louis, I am Jasmine Yeller from CBS News."

The crowd broke out into questions, like a reverse press conference, and Grover bleated.

"We need to get out of here. And fast."

"Agreed." I stated. "I'd rather not see if that FBI van is for us. Off to the train."


	16. Devil Pits, Toddler Men, & Gold Rainbows

We somehow managed to sneak back to the AmTrak without a single person recognising any of us.

Along the way, however, I did stop when I saw the ugliest thing in national television.

Gabe Ugliano was sitting in a cleaner version of my old apartment with a perky brunette on his lap while the news woman interviewed him. A poker table in front of him had random chips scattered across it, abandoned and forgotten from a game long since past.

I stood outside of the store, watching the news live through the glass pane.

"... This must be very hard, Mr. Ugliano." The news lady said, holding a mic out for him to speak into. Gabe nodded, not looking the slightest bit empathic.

"It has been. Percy was always such a delinquent. I knew he'd go out of control one day, but his mother wouldn't let me do anything about it. The only way I can get over everything that's happened is because of my grievance counselor, Sugar Bunny."

He gestured his hand at the lady on his lap, who smiled into the camera and did a small wave. Her coral blue eyes watered up just slightly, but she, too, seemed very apathetic.

They didn't care. They wanted the money.

I turned on my heel and stomped past Annabeth, who was startled by my reaction. She didn't say a word.

On the train ride there, we sat in complete silence, most of the time sleeping with our jackets on our faces.

And with sleep came dreams. Really really weird dreams.

On a scale of kissing your middle school rival to trying to swim with an elephant in room of 10 foot tall fur, this ranked at about evil pits and toddler men.

Oh, you think I'm crazy?

I thought we addressed my weirdness back in chapter 3 or 4…

Oh well, on with the dream I almost forgot about (I literally did, I started writing Ares' chapter then realise "S**T I NEED TO WRITE ABOUT MY DREAM)

It started simple enough, on the beach back at Montauk with my mom and I sitting in the sand.

But it was different. The air was muggy and hot, making my hair stick to my forehead and my clothes uncomfortable.

Mom was talking about something, something I couldn't make out, then she evaporated into bright blue light.

I yelled out in shock, scrambling away from the blue flames that replaced her. A chilling laughter cackled through the air.

' _They took her from you,'_ The dark voice from the dream weeks ago whispered. ' _Is that just? Is that fair?'_

Yelling dragged my attention from the flames. I turned my gaze to the shore, where two men were drawing violently.

"Give it back!" They both screamed at once, pulling at each others beards and hair. The one on the left wore a blue toga with gold lightning etched on it, while the one on the right had a green chiton with blue swirls on it.

"Give it back," The left one shouted and landed a punch on the right one's cheek.

The right one grabbed the left one's toga and shoved him to the side.

I decided to dub these two the 'Toddler Men'.

The scene rippled away like a mirage and I was somewhere much much darker and much much cooler.

A cloaked figure stood a few feet to my 2 o'clock, holding something in his hands.

"Are you sure they'll take the bait?" The cloaked person said. The dark voice chuckled softly.

' _You know as well as I do they will.'_

"You…. you still want _him_?" The cloaked man said.

Something right in front of me glowed red. I gasped and stumbled back just as the piece of stone I was standing on crumbled away and into the pit.

I landed on my back, a foot or two away from the edge.

' _Of course, he is very powerful. He would make a great ally.'_

"Of course, my lord." The figure bowed his head. "And the other two?"

The pit seemed to ponder these words. ' _They are disposable. If we need them, we need them, but after that…'_

I got the impression that he meant to kill these 'other two'.

I stood to my feet, inching forward.

"Yes, my lord." The cloaked man bowed again, then turned to walk away. The air grew warmer and stickier.

Before I could scream, the air sucked in all around me and I flew to the pit, falling in.

I woke up drenched in sweat. Annabeth and Grover were still asleep soundly under their jackets, the train still dark as it was still nighttime.

I hailed down a trolley lady, who gladly gave me a bottle of water for free, and I curled up next to the window with the bottle.

I stayed like that for a while, just watching the scenery zoom past. I don't know when I started feeling tired again, but I woke up the next morning with the sun in my eyes and a jacket pulled haphazardly over my head.

We made it to Denver without any other hitch, but I still felt like jumping out of my skin and hiding somewhere for ages. I saw wanted posters all over the page with my Yancy Yearbook picture on them, my green eyes glaring at passbyers.

Annabeth suggested I change my appearance. " _Most children of Aphrodite can,"_ she had reasoned. " _They have the ability to change certain features of their face and body."_

I told her to f**k off and not suggest that again.

Finally, after a little while, we stumbled upon something Annabeth insisted on looking for - a diy car wash.

She waved us to the farthest stall from the road, slipping into the shade.

I frowned. "What are we doing here? Last I checked, we could have dived into a few water fountains to cool off."

She frowned. "You're waterproof though."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I can still sweat."

Grover muttered something under his breath, glancing between us. Annabeth held my glare, then shook her head.

"We need to get in contact with Chiron." She stated.

"How?" I knitted my eyebrows together. "We can't use phones, right? Monster flares and all. Number one thing they taught us."

She pierced her lips. "IMing."

"Instant Messaging?"

"Iris Messaging." She corrected. She fished some coins out her pocket, counting them.

"Schist," She muttered. "I only have 2 quarters. I need at least 2 dollars."

Grover fished into his pockets, his hands coming out empty. They both turned to stare at me.

I raised my hands in defeat. "What makes you think I have cash?"

Annabeth glared harder. I signed and stuffed my hands in my pockets. The only thing that came out was Riptide.

"Great, we're stuck waterless." She slumped to the edge of the curb, sitting down.

Grover frowned. "Maybe you could use your charmspeak on it?"

"It's a machine," I grumbled. "Machines can't be charmspoke. At least, not that I know of."

"The water saved you twice, Percy." Grover tried. "That can't be a coincidence."

"It was the naiads." I replied back, twirling Riptide in my fingers. "They love children of Aphrodite."

"Just try." He pleaded. "Please."

I sighed and went to pick up the nozzle.

A blast of heat torn into the skin of my right thigh. I hissed in pain and jumped back, falling onto my back on the concrete.

Grover yelped in shock. "Percy!"

Annabeth sprang into action, helping me onto my feet.

"What was that for?" She said with wide eyes.

"Something on my leg burned…" I reached into my pocket, falling silent.

Something warm brushed against my hand and I pulled it out.

Instantly money spilled out of my pocket - exactly 6 quarters and 2 drachmas.

A note fluttered to the floor. Grover picked it up.

"'I hope this is enough. Love~Mum'." He read out. My cheeks burned a little.

"Mum sent me this?" I said quietly, looking at the silver and gold coins. Annabeth scooped them up and fed them to the money deposit.

"5 minutes, that should be long enough."

I took the note from Grover. Something pink glowed neon into the paper.

 _You look just like your mother. I am proud of you. Save Olympus for us ~Aphrodite_

"She's… She's proud of me?" I mumbled. Grover tilted his head and crutched over to me.

"What do you mean?" He whispered. I pointed at the bright pink letters written in some language I didn't know but understood.

"It says it right there."

"Uh Percy, there's nothing there that says that."

I blinked. "What do you mean? It's obviously right there, it's in neon pink."

He shook his head. "All it says is what I read you."

I glanced back at the paper. Nowhere did it say 'Mum' or 'enough'.

In fact, there was no other message other than the neon pink one.

Annabeth shoved the water nozzle into Grover's hand, breaking up our conversation. "You hold the rainbow maker."

"Why do I have to hold it," Grover whined.

"Because I said so." She retorted. Grover sighed and angled the nozzle, turning it on. A rainbow glowed to life in the middle of the mist on the first try.

Annabeth held the 2 drachma's over her head. "O' Goddess Iris, Lady of the Rainbows and Messenger of the Gods, please accept my offering."

She tossed the gold into the water. They melted into the rainbow and the mist coloured itself golden.

"Show my Half Blood Hill." She boldly stated.

The water rippled to show the familiar view of camp. Someone sat at the base of Thalia's tree, sharpening his blade.

In the corner of my eye, I could have sworn Annabeth flashed bright green for a moment. The person looked up and smiled.

Luke stood up and dusted himself off, like he had been expecting this. "Percy! Annabeth! It's so good to see you two, is everything alright?"

Annabeth nodded quickly, her face slowly turning red.

He frowned. "Where is Grover? You two haven't ditched your adult chaperone, have you?"

Grover squeaked. "Nope, just on rainbow duty."

Annabeth shook her blush away. "Where's Chiron?"

Luke frowned. "He had to deal with an incident down at the cabins…"

It was at that moment an expensive car decided to roll into the car wash. I glanced at it, scowling at the black vehicle blaring some racist rap song as it pulled into the stall right next to us.

"... What on earth is that sound?" Luke finished his sentence.

Annabeth jumped. "I'll deal with it! Come on, Grover."

Grover bleeted.

"Why me? I have to hold the nozzle."

"Give the nozzle to Percy and come on!" She demanded.

Grover very carefully, handed the nozzle to me and trotted off after Annabeth.

I readjusted so I could see him better.

"What's happening at the cabins?" I asked him over the music.

Luke leaned closer in, him form shimmering in the gold.

"News broke out that there is a conflict between Poseidon and Zeus." He muttered. "It's very ugly."

"How so?" I accidently charmspoke.

"Blood, gore, threats, insults, exploding popcorn."

I raised an eyebrow. Luke shook his head.

"You don't want to know."

I nodded silently.

"The cabins are taking sides. Aphrodite, Hermes, and Apollo are on Poseidon's side; Athena, Dionysus, and Ares are on Zeus'."

I shivered at the thought of cabin 5 and cabin 6 agreeing about ANYTHING. Must be rare.

"Who do you think leaked the information?"

"I doooo….n't know." Luke drawled, blinking a little. "It's hard to tell, maybe one of Ares' children overheard?"

"What about the Stolls?" I suggested. Luke shook his head.

"They were causing havoc at the lava wall right before I came over to the Big House. And they can't bug me, with the whole no tech rule."

I bit my lip. "It couldn't have been Drew…"

Luke's eyebrows shot up. "You told someone else?!"

I raised my free hand in defense. "Drew swore to secrecy the moment she started bonding with me. She never would tell anyone about something like this."

"She's a child of Aphrodite, she can't be trust-"

"Well so am I!" I shouted. Then I realised how loud my voice was and my face flushed. I thanked my mother that the music situation hadn't be solved yet. Taking a deep breath in, I looked straight at Luke.

"Cabin 10 might be all drama, but when it comes to siblings we have each other's back. Blood-hood code. End of this discussion."

Luke frowned, opened his mouth, then shut it. Once again, I thanked my mom. This time for the ability to shut people up with only a few well placed words.

He shook his head. "Fine. Update me on the quest so I can convey something to Chiron."

I told him, in the most vague way possible, how the quest went. We had already wasted a minute arguing, and we needed all the time we could get.

Just as I was telling Luke about Gladiola, I heard a shout from next door. The man screamed something I couldn't make out, then the music dramatically declined in volume.

"About time," I mumbled, then continued with my story.

"... Then Annabeth dragged us here." I concluded. Luke tapped his chin.

"You mentioned something… You said that both Medusa AND Echidna didn't get your parentage right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's crazy. It's like I could have been a son of Poseidon in my past life… Wait we have rebirth, right?"

"Yes we do," He said patiently. "And you could have been a very famous one by that…." He trailed off. "Now that your charmspeak seemed to have worn off… Hear me out. What exactly did you tell Drew?"

I shrugged. "The basics: Zeus had bolt taken and blames it on Poseidon, who claims it wasn't him. Zeus also blames me, yada yada."

"And what did she reply with?"

I frowned. "To that? She told me she thinks that it could have been Hades, since he's the older brother. This is basically a godly version of the Rowan Incident."

Luke frowned. "... You mentioned that at the hill, that you were going to the Underworld." He recalled. "Makes sense. In order to steal someone's symbol of power, you need someone mortal. Heroes, specifically."

"His symbol of power is the Helm," I added. "Invisibly would help tremendously in stealing something."

"Agreed…" Luke paused. Then his eyes widened. "Schist, I didn't mean… I mean, Annabeth's got her invisible hat but she wouldn't do that. She looks up to the gods, I wouldn't say that about her. She's like my little sister."

I frowned and wondered if Annabeth would like to have heard that. Probably not.

The car door slammed shut and the black car sped out as fast as it could out of the stall with a knife wielding blonde chasing after it.

"Wow she's fast." I muttered.

Suddenly a timer beeped and the water shut off.

"Hey, tell the others that we're cheering you on!" Luke shouted as he evaporated. "We don't need a war."

I nodded.

"Oh, and do the shoes fit?"

I flushed. "I… Yes, yes they do." I lied. Luke smiled, then disappeared completely, leaving me alone in a damp car wash.

Annabeth shuffled towards me. "Is everything okay, Dove Boy?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Come on, let's get out of here before it becomes as hot as BFE."

Grover frowned as he goat-shuffled to me. "If you say so… what's-"

"Don't ask." I commented. He blinked, then nodded.

We started shuffling back towards the direction we came from, and then it dawned on me.

 _I didn't tell him about the dream._


	17. We meet mum's boyfriend, who likes me

We crashed at a diner, exhausted, hot, and hungry.

It was sometime before we had to be back on the AmTrak, which was good news for us.

Bad news? Meals cost money, and I don't think my mom can help us out any more than she has already.

All 3 of us slipped into a booth closest to the back, hidden away from the wanted ads.

A women with artificial blonde hair with black roots, brown eyes, skin heavily caked in either foundation or spray tan, and a nametag that said 'Darcy' on her red polo walked up to us. She popped her gum and glared down at us.

"Children?" She said distastefully. "Well?"

Grover's chin trembled. "Could we have something to eat?"

She sneered. "Do you even have the money?"

"Well no…"

"We aren't a food court, you aren't getting food unless you pay."

I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to spew some charmspeak, hoping it would work, then the building started shaking.

For a moment, I thought we were having an earthquake, then the sound caught up to me:

Motorcycle.

I turned to watch a man walk through the run door, shades dawning his dark, scarred face.

His leather jacket was covered in patches and x's, brass knuckles clutched tightly in his fists. His jeans were leather too, with streaks of red and brown glittering in the light. His shoes were combative ones, much like black spray painted military boots. He was young, around 17 or 18, but his body build was all wrong, like some teenager RAW wrestler on steroids. His hair was covered by a hat that looked like it's been through a 100 too many fights and barely fitted over his scalp.

One look at him and I felt like I was staring Nancy Bobofit in the eyes.

I clenched the table cloth, not noticing that everyone else in the room had blank faces.

Then it was like someone punched the clock in reverse.

The lady turned back to us and sneered.

"Do you even have the money?" She repeated.

I paused, looking back up at her in confusion.

"Didn't you just ask us that?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I… Didn't I?"

The man strided over to us. "I'll pay for them."

He slipped 5 drachma's into her hands. She looked at it and blinked.

"We don't…" She started. He slipped into the seat across from me, crowding Annabeth into the wall.

"Take it hon." He purred. I glared at him viciously, then turned to the waitress.

"Sell them at a pawn shop, they're 24 karat gold."

The charmspeak washed over her and she smiled softly. "24 karat… pawn… I can go to college with that money?"

I nodded. "Yes dear, just can we please get some cheeseburgers and french fries?"

She nodded dreamily and skipped off to the kitchen to place our order.

The man in the sunglasses whistled. "Smooth kid, not what I would have done."

"I didn't ask you to tell us anything so shut your f**kin mouth." I turned back to him and glared. Annabeth's eyes widened and shot a warning to me.

"Percy, you can't speak like that, this is-"

The man held his hand up to silence he. "S'okay, I like a little spunk," he purred.

My cheeks flushed a little, catching the tone.

"Shut up." I mumbled, scanning his features.

His mouth twitched into a smirk.

"So you're the kid that's been putting everyone's toga in a bunch?"

"Don't know, don't care." I hissed.

He smiled even more. "I can see why everyone assumes you're Barnacle Beard's son, you act just like him. But I, unlike others, actually bother to pay attention to parentage, _Son of Love_."

I continued glaring at him.

"Do you know who I am?"

I knew it from the moment he walked in.

"Ares, Clarisse's dad." I evened my voice, staring him straight into his sunglasses.

Ares smiled at the recognition and took his sunglasses off. Where his eyes should have been were smoldering pockets of blood red fire.

"I heard you broke her spear." He tilted his head a little.

I shrugged. "What, Lamer? She was asking for it. Got anything to say 'bout it."

Ares' smile flickered down for a moment. "No, I don't fight my children's battles for them. Any jiff between you and my cabin stays between you and my cabin..."

I scowled at his tone. I didn't like how he was talking to me, not after how many times I've seen it happen at camp.

Maybe it was painfully obvious, or it was apart of my powers, but I could tell he was flirting with me.

He was not going to win.

"Unfortunately, my encounter with your offspring has left me bias." I laced in my charmspeak. "You will leave it at that."

He raised a blood red eyebrow. "Sly tongue for such a young boy."

"Bold attempt at trying to flirt, old man."

Annabeth coughed softly, glaring at me.

Ares ignored her.

"Why are you here?" My accent thickened. "Don't think any mortal is worth a trip halfway across the country to just flirt with."

He took a moment to watch the people around us. "I have a task for you."

"P*ss off." I retorted, making Grover jump. His eyes were wide as he watched Ares and I.

Ares snorted at my language. "So foul, is it really necessary?"

"Is you being here _really necessary_?"

"Touche," he mused. "Yes. You see, I have something you need if you have any hopes for completing this mission of yours."

I scowled. "What, you stole the bolt and admitting your defeat to a child of love?"

His smile flickered again. His eyes flared a little, obviously not use to this much backtalk from a child. Annabeth shook her head. I ignored her.

"No, don't mention that here." He lowered his voice. "But I have something that could set you on your way to it."

"We already have our way to Los Angeles," I countered. "I think that's enough."

Ares shook his head. "Someone snitched you out. You'll never make it to LA on that train."

My stomach fell lower than it already was.

"Waht?"

Ares pierced his lips and nodded. "You slipped up last night. Someone saw you and recognised you from the advertisements. They called the authorities, they want you to go back on that train so they'll arrest you."

I opened my mouth. He shook his head.

"Charmspeak doesn't work on polygraphs, nor truth serum. You will never get in time."

I watched his face carefully. As hard as it was to tell emotions without eyes, I picked out his jaw slacking just slightly, and I could have sworn his flaming eyes flickered blue for a moment.

I sighed. "Fine. What is this oh so important mission you have for us?"

Darcy slipped our meals in front of us.

"Enjoy lovies, I'm gonna go quit my job now!"

She hummed and skipped off, untying her pocket wrap from her waist and slipping her new gold coins into her back pocket.

I prayed that she would have it a lot easier now.

"My girlfriend and I… had our date interrupted because of a little vendetta against me. Unfortunately I accidently left my favourite shield behind."

"Seriously?" My mouth dropped. "You _accidently_ left your _favourite_ shield behind?"

He scowled. "You know, I can see why Athena described you as annoying."

I smile sarcastically. "What are you talking about, I'm a f**king angel."

Annabeth nearly faceplanted into her burger.

Grover busied himself with his french fries, eyeing me with worry.

His eyes flared. "Anyways, you get my shield back to me, I get you a ride west."

I thought about it. We had no money, all of it was spent on food and that train ride. We had no connections either, unless we died and went as ghosts.

Unfortunately, our only option was to take it.

"When do you need it by?" I grumbled, picking up a fry and poking it at my mayo, frustrated.

"Tonight."

I scowled. It was already the 15th of June, and we needed to get the bolt back by the 21st. I didn't want to waste a full day looking for a shield.

"You're kidding."

"Sorry, but the shield is a real lady charmer." Ares shrugged. "And sometimes men."

"Yuck, fine I'll get your shield." I glared at him. "Just let me finish my lunch."

Ares smirked at my defeat and my stomach did a slow roll, like I was going to throw up.

Then, he was gone.

Annabeth turned to me. "You have a death wish, don't you?"

I shrugged. "Still alive, ain't I?"

She went back to focusing on her burger. I sighed and focused on mine.

This was not going to be fun.

ȣ

"He said it was just north of here." Annabeth reread the note Ares left behind explaining everything. "I guess this is the waterpark."

I looked up at the 'ideal dating point' and scowled.

 **WATERLAND FOR THE CURSED** was quite a name to live up to, but it did. The name wasn't even up all the way, so in reality it was **WATER- FOR THE -U-SED**. Fun fun, joy joy.

'Up north is a waterpark in which I left my shield. Find it and return to the dinner by sundown.'

"Bloody hell." I grumbled. "Well come on. Let's get this over with."

I strided up to the gate and shook it violently, rust caking my hands. The iron rattled, but didn't move any more than that.

"F**kin sh*tty locks." I hissed. "F**k you and your f**kin sh*tty lock ways."

Grover pinched his nose to keep from laughing at me. Why he thinks my language is funny still eludes me, but he eventually took my hands and held them in his.

"Cursing the lock is not going to help you, Perce." He chided. I frowned.

"No idea what you're talking about."

His mouth twitched. "I'll get us in… Just give me a minute."

He started backing away slowly.

"Please tell me you're not going to ram it." I muttered. "I get you're part goat, but please don't."

Grover shook his head. "Naw. This goat's gonna fly!"

He started running. About halfway to the gate, he jumped and screamed, "Maia!"

His black Nike's fluttered to life and he sailed gracefully over the 10 foot tall gate.

He crashed into the roof of a ticket booth.

I winced at the sound of crunching metal.

"You okay?!" I shouted after him.

There was a moment of silence, then Grover's face popped up from the torn roof.

"I'm fine!"

He scampered down the side, his shoes in his hand and his hooves finding ways to rockwall their way down.

Soon, he was at the gate with a key in his hand.

"I would have eaten it," he noted, "but rusted metals are like spoiled milk."

I opened my mouth, then decided not to comment on it.

We walked through the water park, the 7 o'clock sun burning it's way into our skins. I vaguely wondered if the blessing would allow me to have a sunburn.

Annabeth decided to ditch our old clothes in favor for thetie dye hell that she found.

" _Never turn down free clothes, even if it makes you look like a weed hippie."_

I was now wearing a rainbow swirl shirt, rainbow swirl shorts, rainbow swirl Vans, a rainbow swirl hat, and a lanyard she insisted I wear.

She and Grover were wearing what I had (minus the shoes for G-man,) but Annabeth had a 12 inch diameter hard rubber ball instead of a lanyard.

"Gods, if Ares takes his girlfriend to this place for a date, I'd hate to see what she looks like." I announced.

Annabeth turned around to stare at me. Then she started cracking up.

"Oh my gods!" She wheezed and fell to the floor in laughter.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, stomping my foot. The charmspeak washed over her like water.

"His girlfriend is your mom, Percy." She breathed, laughing the entire time.

My eyes widened with horror and she started snorted and choking.

Grover pinched his nose again, shaking softly at my expression.

"Stop laughing!"

Silence rippled around us. Annabeth froze in her place on the floor, holding her head. Grover was holding his head too, all laughter sucked out of them.

My cheeks turned red. "I… I'm sorry…. I didn't know…"

My voice cracked, breaking the spell I had put them under. Annabeth smiled and looked up at me.

"Still hilarious."

"Shut up."

Grover shook his head and helped Annabeth from off the floor. I took a step to help her, but was suddenly blinded by a light to my left.

I turned and covered my face in confusion. "What in the f**king hell?"

I took a step back to my original position and took my hand away.

Right in the middle of a smooth grey marble pool was a shield the size of my body leaning against a boat that looked like it was going to be crushed underneath it.

" _Cupid's Tunnel of Love_ " I read aloud, happy that the font was registering in my brain. " _Not your parent's average love ride._ Great, we might see porn."

Annabeth frowned. "What's porn?"

"Yoooou don't want to know." I commented, then started picking my way across the concrete to the empty pool. I felt like eyes were watching me, like Ares was waiting for me to fail so he could come swoop in and save me.

Ew no, let's forget I ever thought that.

I got to the edge, glancing down at the pit 15 feet below. It was shaped nicely for skateboarding, but it was littered with old boats covered in hearts. Cupids lined the top, their shiny baby bodies facing the very centre. Each one was in a different position - some shooting upwards, some with their bow at rest. Some were aiming at the boats themselves and some didn't even have their bows drawn.

I frowned. "I'm going in."

Grover limped over next to me. "I'll go with you."

He didn't look like he wanted to go down there with me, but I had a sudden feeling of sorrow wash over me. I could feel regret and guilt too.

"No," I stated softly. "I need you up here. You've got the flying shoes."

He slouched in defeat. I took a deep breath.

"Our Red Baron." I smiled. He looked at and smiled a little.

"Yeah?" He whispered. I nodded.

"Yeah. Annabeth will go down with me."

Annabeth's cheeks turned red again. "What?! No!"

I paused. "Um, why?"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "It's a love ride." She stated.

I shrugged. "So?"

She glared. "You're a child of Aphrodite, what if someone sees us?"

My cheeks started to turn red.

Leave it to a daughter of Athena to complicate things.

"Fine, I'll go alone then." I grumbled, then turned back to go climb into the pit.

Annabeth stood for a moment, the grumbled something about boys being stupid, then followed me.

I slid down the slope, gliding over the opaque monocoloured material like butter on bread.

Before I knew it, I was under the domed roof they had constructed over top of the pool.

And mirrors were everywhere.

A million of me shifted the same way I did, evil clones trapped behind panels of glass.

With a shiver, I finally realising why Ares would bring my mum here. While they kissed and did _gods know what_ here, they could stare at themselves like an onlooker.

"Yuck." I whispered. Annabeth glanced at me, confused. I waved her off and started weaving around boats to go get the shield.

"This boat…" Annabeth said when we reached his shield. "That's a greek character."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at what she was pointing at.

"That's just an H, Annabeth." I looked back at her. She frowned.

"No, it's Eta."

"Whatever." I dismissed and reached for the shield.

My hand paused a couple inches from the center when I noticed something from the corner of my eye.

Annabeth was hovering over the next boat over, staring longingly at something glowing in her hands.

Something pink.

I ran to her and snatched the thing from her hands as she went to rub it against her face.

Pink silk tickled my palm and I looked at Annabeth, slightly angry.

"Oh no," I stated boldly. "No love magic for you."

The scarf flared purple and I shoved it into my back pocket, snapping Annabeth out of her daze.

"What the heck, Jackson?" She looked angry, but also distraught.

I shook my head. "No scarves with love magic. That's final. Let's just get the shield and get out of here."

I turned and stormed back to the shield and grabbed the spike in the very center.

Something snapped the moment my fingertips touched it. I realised, with a drop of my stomach, that this was a set up.

A trap.

"Wait!"

"Too late."

She ignored me.

"That boat. It has an Eta too. Eta is an H. _H_. H for Hephaestus. Aphrodite's husband is Hephaestus. She cheats on him with Ares. Oh gods."

The cupids activated, all of them pointing their arrows along the rim. In a blink of an eye, gold webbing exploded all above us, latching along the rims of the pool. Grover bleated and backed away, horrified.

A camera popped out of a cupid's head, right where it's brain should have been.

"Going live to Olympus via HTV," Aa speaker announced, "In one minute."

"Oh sh-"


	18. Tell her that I miss our Little Talks

"Fifty Nine seconds… Fifty Eight…"

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t…" I spun around in circles, looking for any opening. The marble and mirror flooring would make it impossible to climb back up, even without the gold netting, and the only one was a 60 degree drop made of pure concrete, which is too dangerous to take.

"Grover!" I shouted over the speaker voice, which had just hit 50. "GET TO THE CONTROL PANEL, TURN ON THE WATER!"

The charmspeak took over Grover's body for him and he dashed to the roofed building right next to us, where the controls were.

Annabeth grabbed the shield from me, slipping it onto her arm. Instantly, it wrapped around her wrist and turned into a leather fingerless glove.

"Why the water?"

"That drop, right over there," I pointed to the other side of the pool. "Looks too deep to walk down. Water is like a lubricant, we can use it to slide down it in a boat."

"That's…" Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Oh my gods, that's actually brilli- AAAAH."

Her face turned into one of horror and she jumped back, falling on her butt. The sounds of tapping filled my head and I turned to see what she was staring at.

Millions of small black objects spilled from the cracks in between the mirrors like ink, scuttering towards us.

"Spi...SPi… SPIIIII!" She sputtered, crawling away from them and towards the boat.

"Thirty seconds!" The cupid announced.

"Get up!" I demanded, dashing to her and helping her up. She obeyed, her body malleable thanks to the charmspeak.

I glanced back at Grover, who was behind the panel glass and furiously running between control panel to control panel. I swallowed back the fear building in my throat and shoved Annabeth into the boat, pulling the seat buckle around her so it was tight enough.

"Ten seconds."

Grover dashed madly out of the control room and to the edge. Gold string lashed out the grab him, but he was too fast.

"Nothing is working!" He shouted back at me.

"Seven seconds."

I took a deep breath and remembered the memory I had at Cabin 3.

"Grover get ready." I turned to him.

"Yes… Ready for what?"

"Three seconds."

I closed my eyes and imagined that memory.

"Two seconds."

I thought about the ocean, about the creak at camp, the Mississippi River.

"One second."

"Percy!"

Something tugged in my gut and I heard the old pipes in the concrete walls rattle.

"Live!"

The mirrors shattered to bits and water gushed out from all around. Annabeth yelped as a wave of spiders rushed past her, drowning in the liquid. My body surged with power and I pushed the boat towards the tunnel, climbing in.

"Get ready."

The water worked with me, pushing the boat to the tunnel smoothly.

I gripped the front rail. The darkness engulfed us as we shot down the tunnel. My stomach churned and bile shot up into my mouth, causing me to gag.

Annabeth screamed. I screamed. Grover, in the distance, was screaming. The video camera panned to show us.

We shot past Romeo and Juliet paintings, as well as naked pictures of both men and women.

One stomach churning moment later, we were spewed out of the tunnel going 35 knots. How I knew that, I don't know, I was too busy screaming.

I saw the Golden Gates of Love, which if working properly we'd shoot through them and land safely in the Lake of Eros, but they were chained.

Annabeth shouted, "We have to jump!"

I glanced at her. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"YES!" She yelled back, taking off her seatbelt. She face was still pale, but she seemed to have snapped out of her fear. "IT'S SIMPLE PHYSICS, SPEED TIME PROJ-"

"ENGLISH PLEASE."

She sighed. "WE JUMP, SAIL OVER THE GATES, AND LAND IN THE POOL."

I thought for a moment and watched a boat crash into the gates.

"FINE! ON YOUR MARK."

She hesitated. The ramp sailed towards us. She waited even more.

"NOW!"

I grabbed her hand and leapt upwards. We sailed over the ramp as the boat slammed against the concrete floor below us.

She was right, we sailed over the gate. However, she didn't realise the pool was empty and made of concrete.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" We both screamed and closed our eyes.

Something tugged the hand I was using to stay connected to Annabeth.

It shot upwards, causing me to swing back into Annabeth. She wrapped around me, her hand connected to mine still.

We stopped falling, a sharp pain in all my joints of my right arm. I looked up to see the Red Baron himself hovering above us.

I cracked a grin. "Grover!"

Grover winced. "Don't shout." Gently, he started to descended to the concrete floor. As soon as we touched the ground, all three of us collapsed.

I heard the whirling of gears and I stood up, facing the marble pool. All of the cupids were looking at me, bows raised. Slowly, getting up and dusting my clothes off, I faced the gold netted pool.

I took a deep breath. "VERY FUNNY ARES." I announced. "WE HAVE YOUR SHIELD NOW, SO YOU BETTER HOLD UP TO YOUR END OF THE DEAL."

I glanced at the gates for a moment, then looked back at Camera Cupid. "SHOW'S OVER, GODS AND GODDESSES. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING!" I bowed, charmspeak rippling over everything like a sonic boom.

When I looked back up, the gold netting was gone and the cupids had returned to their original positions.

I collapsed again, drained.

Annabeth helped me back up. I leaned heavily on her shoulder, but she didn't complain. She had slipped off the leather glove, and somehow got it on my wrist.

"Thank you." she whispered as we climbed back to the entrance.

I smirked. "Is that all I get?"

She punched me.

Grover carried Annabeth's rubber ball, seemingly more relaxed.

"You two are already making my job really hard, you know?"

I smiled even wider, glancing back at him. "Since when has it not?"

He smiled at me, shaking his head.

"Come on, Perce. Let's go back to the diner."

ȣ

Ares' eyes billowed black smoke as we approached him.

He was slightly younger now, about 16 instead, but other than that he looked the same. His dirty blonde hair was ruffled, a little longer and lighter than I thought it'd be.

I slipped the glove off my hand and nearly slammed it into the beige leather seating of his Harley. "You knew it was a trap."

Ares frowned, obviously not liking my behaviour. "Of course, didn't want my lovely girlfriend to be a laughing stalk again. She gets destructive. Last time, I had replace my entire army of knight suits from 1300 England."

"I don't care."

He glared, his eyes flaring orange. "You should, she is _your_ mother after all. And I see the personality has carried over."

I flinched at that. I decided to change the subject. "The ride. You promised."

He twitched his chin to his left. I glanced at my right.

100 paces away was a black truck with white writing on it.

 **KINDNESS INTER-NATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.**

"Are you f**king kidding me?'" I turned to go glare back at him. "You want us to take a f**king zoo to wherever it's going."

"Vegas," Ares shrugged. "You'd like it there. Then the next day you'll be on your way to L.A."

I glared harder. He glanced at me, then turned to his seat and plucked his glove up. Slowly, as if making a scene, he slipped the forearm-length leather into place on his left arm, the material stretching to fit his massive triceps.

"F**k you." I mumbled.

"Happily, if only you were older."

I flipped him off, earning a scuff.

Annabeth called for me. I turned to see her climbing out the vehicle's back, motioning for me to come here.

"Oh, and kid," Ares said as I was heading to the truck/van. I was only a few paces away from him.

Reluctantly, I turned back around and got a face full of nylon.

"Bloody f**king hell." I stumbled back, nearly falling on my butt.

I pulled the fabric from my face. It was a blue bookbag that was dangerously light. Out of curiosity, I opened it.

Inside was a flashlight, a pouch the size of both my fists combined, a pair of clothes as equally horrifying as the ones I was wearing, 40 bucks cash, and a double stuffed oreo pack with the word 'Ambrosia flavoured' written on it. Underneath was a disclaimer: WARNING, this is not real Ambrosia, too many mortals died.

I frowned. "I don't need some lousy ba-"

A hand clapped over my mouth. Grover stood beside me, with Annabeth on the other side.

"What he means is, thank you Lord Ares, for a generous gift."

I licked his hand in protest. He yelped and snapped away.

"Ew, seriously?"

I nodded, not saying one word. In a fuming anger, not towards Grover and Annabeth but instead towards Ares, I paced to the vehicle and climbed in.

Slumping against the wall, I watched Ares climb on his bike and disappear in a puff of smoke.

Something warm flared to life in my pocket and I frowned, pulling whatever it was out.

 _ **Your mother, your mortal one, is alive. ~Ares**_

I crumbled the paper in my hand and shoved it back into my pocket as Grover climbed into the back with a blonde at his heels.

"You just insulted the war god, Percy." Annabeth hissed. "What on Earth were you thinking?"

I sneered a little. "He was flirting with me, he earned every insult I gave him."

"Gods don't take insults lightly," She explained, sliding down next to me. "Your lucky he didn't turn you into a gopher and run you over with his bike."

I shook my head. "Once again, still an easier way to the underworld than what we have right now."

Grover slumped across from us, exhausted. "I can't believe this is our ride. These poor animals."

And then, only because he mentioned it, I noticed the animals.

A lion, a zebra, and a jackalope.

Why didn't I smell animal though?

I frowned and watched the animals closer. The lion had gum of a million different shades matted and wadded into his mane and coat, his paws covered in blood. Sad eyes watched me with a hint of hunger, since the only food he had was a huge sack of turnips and carrots in front of him.

The jackalope had a 'Over the hill!' black balloon tied to it's only antler, patches of fur missing all over. The zebra was equally horrible, with overgrown hooves, a tangled mane, and so much dirt it looked more like a horse than a zebra.

All of them were so thin I could count their ribs from where I was sitting, even with the darkness.

I opened my mouth to say something, then Annabeth clapped her hand on mine.

"Sh," She hissed. "I hear voices."

I listened as two men, the owners of the truck probably, grumbled loudly about the animals and shut the door to their part of the vehicle.

The engine started.

We fell on our sides as the van lurched forward. The animal bayed in surprise, stumbling from the inertia.

Grover bleated in frustration. "This is what they call humane?! This is cruel."

I nodded in agreement, wishing I could impale those two goons in the front. Unfortunately, killing is still illegal and I'm still a wanted fugitive.

Annabeth frowned and leaned closer to me. "Oh my gods, you're a freaking air filter now."

"What?" I stared at her, pulling the flashlight out of the bag to see her better.

"It smells terrible in here, but the closer I lean to you, the more it smells like roses."

I scowled. "Great, and I thought it couldn't get any worse."

She offered a smile, but she seemed tired. Usually she'd tease me, but something seemed different.

There was a moment of silence. "What did Luke tell you?"

I looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

She pierced her lips. "You told us everything was fine. But it wasn't, something's wrong. What did he tell you?"

I took a deep breath. "Someone leaked information about our quest."

Grover bleated. "No, not again."

I frowned. "Again?"

Annabeth sighed. "Everyone knew the big three stopped having children. Everyone knew they were powerful. When Thallia came to camp… and died…"

Grover finished sadly. "The camp broke out into teams. Athena, Demeter, and Apollo were on Zeus' side of judgement while everyone else was on Hades'. Some believed that Zeus shouldn't have had a daughter, while others believed that Hades was over reacting."

With a moment of realisation, I realised I believed the former. I hadn't realised it, maybe it was my newfound hatred to Zeus, but he should never have broken the oath he forced the others to make. It wasn't right.

Then it dawned on me.

"She had other people with her."

Grover looked up from his hands, in which he had previously buried himself in. "What?" His voice cracked.

"You said she had other people there." I said slowly. "Two in particular."

I turned to Annabeth. "It was you and Luke, wasn't it?"

She looked taken back, like she couldn't believe I figured that out by myself. "Yes… yes. Thalia and Luke found me. He was 14, she was 12. They kinda… adopted me after some incident involving a hammer and a golf club." She played with her necklace. "Then Grover found us."

"I was given specific orders to bring Thalia to camp. _Only_ _Thalia_ , not Thalia and Luke and Annabeth. But…"

"You couldn't leave them alone, could you?" I whispered. He shook his head.

"I had to help them." he confessed. "But I got scared and distracted. We knew Hades was after her, but it never occurred to me how much. I took a few wrong turns, too many, and they caught up."

He teared up. "I couldn't even keep her alive long enough for her to at least get some proper training. I'm a failure."

"No you're not!" Annabeth protested, rattling the animals a little. "You saved me and Luke. Without you, neither me or Luke would be alive."

"Or me," I added. "You saved me from being murdered in my sleep. You tracked me down personally so I could get to camp. You're a hero."

He teared up, wiping his cheek. "That… you really mean that?"

I nodded. "I mean it more than anything. No charmspeak at all."

It was true. Despite all the strange times my siren's call wanted to show up and take over, this was not one of them. I truly meant it.

I waited for a response, but all I got was a snore.

"How does he do that?" I whispered. Annabeth cracked a smile, though a tear glittered on her cheek.

"I have no idea." She sputtered-laughed, another tear rolling down her cheek.

We sat in silence for a little bit, then I noticed something else. She started to rub a ring on her necklace.

"What's that?"

Her gaze snapped up at me. "What?"

I pointed to her neck and looked down. "It's none of your…"

She paused. Then sighed. "It's my dad's."

I leaned forwards, waiting for her to continue.

She took a deep breath. "It's his Harvard ring. He got it when he got his doctorates, before I was born. Mom… He couldn't have done it without her."

"He gave it to you?"

She nodded. "I was 7 when I ran away, but I tried to give him another chance, when I was 9."

Annabeth glanced at me with her grey eyes. "He married this woman, Mia. They had two children, Bobby and Matthew. Mia didn't think I was safe enough to live there. A monster would attack, we'd argue. Another one would attack, we'd argue. Dad tried to make it work, but it was only lecture after lecture. His was a history professor for college, he didn't know how to talk to me right. I didn't even last the full semester."

She looked down at her lap. "Dad chose which side he was going to fight on, and that was not my side."

I waited for her to continue, but she just sat in silence.

"When I was in 3rd grade, people would call me a bastard." I admitted. Annabeth looked up.

"What?"

"Bastard, meaning 'without a father'. It was my math teacher who started it."

She looked confused. I kept going.

"Then my science teacher adapted the term. Within a week, everyone was calling me that. Most of them didn't even know what it meant, either." I shrugged. "I was apart of that group. When I came back home during winter break, since it was a boarding school, I asked my mom what it meant. She panicked and tried to report the school, but it was privately funded. There was nothing she could do."

Annabeth's eyebrow knitted together. "What do this have to deal-"

"Just… wait." I held my hand up in a 'stop' fashion. She closed her mouth.

"Gabe, my stepfather, agreed with the school. 'Call them as they are,' he said, before he'd return to his poker game. So mom told me what it meant, and when I went back to school, I spent an hour on a computer typing a printable note to the teachers… and sent it through my math teacher's email server."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

I nodded, smiling a little. "That's when I started cursing. He got fired and charged with some misdemeanor that I don't remember. They never knew it was me."

"What did it say?"

"You don't wanna know.. Basically I called announced that he was a scumbag douche who did nothing all day, was racist, had a dream about the journalist teacher two doors down, etcetera. Only it was not clean."

"What the heck, Percy, you were in 3rd grade, why did you know about that?"

"It was an all grade school." I admitted. "But my point is, change doesn't happen through words or a dream. You have to take the action into your hands only, and do what they least expect."

She pierced her lips, looking like she was deep in thought. "How did you get expelled then?"

"From that school?" She nodded. "I glued 3 pounds of feathers to the bleachers after a senior recruited me for her senior prank. She payed, I did it."

Annabeth tried to hide her grin, but it didn't work.

She stayed silent for a minute. "About the teams...at camp, I mean."

I raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"Luke mentioned they split into teams. Who is on who's side this time?"

I thought for a minute.

"Athena, Dionysus, and Ares are on Zeus' side, which is blaming me and Poseidon for stealing the bolt. Aphrodite, Hermes, and Apollo are on Poseidon's side, who claims both I and himself are not guilty."

She frowned. "Typical."

"Will this be like another Trogan War?" I mumbled softly. "Aphrodite and Athena were on opposite sides."

"Don't know, but all I do know is I'm on your side no matter what."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because you're my friend, Dove Boy. Come on, let's get some sleep."

With that, she dozed off leaving me and the animals to our thoughts.


	19. Viva Las Vegas

My dream started the same way they use to - in the classroom.

I've had this dream millions upon millions of times. It was always in the same classroom at the same time of year - End of Grade Testing.

The teacher, who was always my 2nd grade teacher Miss. Uriarte, was sitting at her desk, glaring. She wasn't even in the grade level to be spectoring a state test.

"Come on, Percy, it's just a test. Pick up the pencil and do it." She stated. I glanced at my lap, the familiar sight of a straight jacket glaring back at me.

The test in front of my was starchy white, with a neon yellow No.2 pencil with no lead next to it.

Then the dream strayed off from the usual. I heard struggling from my right.

I glanced over to the seat 3 desks away from me. A girl, just a little older than me, was sitting in front of a desk with a straight jacket just like mine. Her black hair was spiked up dramatically, like a halo around her. Her skin was paler than mine, like a California tan, and was covered in a million freckles. Her eyes were black-lined and smokey, iridescent grey-blue eyes glaring at me like an oncoming storm. I knew who she was. This was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

"Well?" She snapped. "What are you waiting for, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get our of here!"

I shook my head, confused. "What do you mean?"

"The prophecy!" She shouted, startling Ms. Uriarte. "Remember the great prophecy!"

"What great prophecy!" I shouted back, but the dream was already melting away.

I was back at the edge of the pit. The straight jacket was still around me, but I was on my feet.

' _I see the plan went accordingly,_ ' the pit mused, almost purring. ' _Excellent. You shall play your part, child._ '

I took a delicate step back, thinking the pit was talking to me. Someone else spoke.

"It was easy." The familiar voice said. "Too easy."

' _The easy part is giving it to him,'_ The pit agreed, ' _but the hard part is to get it to me.'_

"I could have brought it to you personally," the person insisted. "I could hav-"

He paused. The pit glowed orange. ' _You have had your chance, but this time no one will know. War will break out, and everyone will be too distracted to care about this 'silly mistake'._ '

The man, the one I couldn't see because I was frozen in place, sighed. "I suppose this is why they named you The Crooked One."

The pit chuckled. ' _Indeed.'_ the pit took a deep breath, the wind nearly knocking me off my feet.

' _Six months has brought us much. Zeus's anger has grown a tenfold. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly, you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands…'_ the voice paused.

"What is it, my lord?" The man poked.

' _He is here,'_ the pit growled, unpleased. ' _The boy is just like his mother, so unpredictable and annoying. He brought himself to see us.'_

The pit took on a purple hue, then blue. ' _You wish to see your quest, boy? Then your wish is my command.'_

The scene rippled to show a huge bronze and black iron gate. Skeletons in armor from all timeframes grinned at me, then pointed their weapons at my chest. One threw a spear, and it pierced straight through my heart.

ȣ

I woke up breathless.

Grover was shaking me, concern on his face. "We're slowing down, I think you're stopping soon."

I sat up, groggy. Annabeth was stirring from her own slumber, distraught.

"We need to let them go," Grover pleaded. "Percy, they are animal smugglers."

I blinked the sleep away. "I'm sorry, they're animal snugglers?"

Grover facepalmed. "For someone who can make anyone do anything with words, you're terrible at hearing."

"Shut up,"I grumbled. Grover just frowned. Annabeth sat up.

"What's so important that you had to ruin my dream?" She grumbled.

"We're dealing with animal snugglers."

"Smugglers." Grover corrected. "Albert, the lion… He told me that they're going to sell them at Vegas, not taking them to the Los Angeles Zoo."

"F**k Ares." I mumbled under my breath. "He knew, that d**kwad."

Fortunately, no one heard me.

"We need to get them out of here." Annabeth decided.

We got to work quietly, but quickly. We swapped the animal's food, to distract them while we cleaned them.

Annabeth got to work on the jackalope, who huffed happily at the relief of the horn she carefully removed. Grover helped the zebra, using Riptide to cut the hooves into their proper shape.

I was tasked with the Lion named Albert.

Albert watched me with sunken blue eyes, his coat filled with dead flies that had suffocated in gum.

My hands worked on autopilot. I've removed gum from hair before, after Nancy had smashed a wad in the back of my head.

I touched a piece, and it immediately untangled from the coat.

I frowned. I reached out for another piece.

It fell into my hand.

"What the…"

The lion mewed, pawing at the ground softly.

I took a handful of gum. All of them popped out of the coat with ease.

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Grover glanced over. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

The lion mewed again. Grover clopped over.

"Percy, do that again."

I pressed my hand against as much gum as I could. 15 pieces fell to the floor.

His jaw dropped. "Keep doing that, we'll figure it out later."

I obeyed. Within a minute, Albert's coat was cleaned of everything, a shimmering white with a silverish mane.

Albert bowed his head in respect, then Grover instructed me to do the same to the zebra.

I did. The dirt rubbed off like flour on marble. The zebra reared up a little, cheerful.

' _Thank you, my lord.'_

I didn't think about it, I just moved on to the jackalope.

The horn stubs smoothed over, the coat grew shiny, etc. etc.

"Holy Styx, that is so cool." Annabeth breathed, then fell over.

The truck pulled to a stop, knocking everyone over.

"Oh gods, they're coming." Grover panicked. "Roll in the dirt. Hide."

He directed the first part to the animals, who obeyed. Instantly, they were covered in dirt again. We gently closed their cage doors.

I barely had enough time to hide behind a rotten sack of potatoes before the door opened.

Annabeth pulled her hat on, disappearing. At the back of the truck, a man with a beard to rival some duck hunter peered inside. He had a nasty grin on his face.

"This is yerr stop, Albert. You're lucky, the other two are on death row."

The lion whined softly, padding back a little.

I gritted my teeth together.

Sounded, something banged behind me

 _Knock knock knock_

The man frowned.

"Eddie, whadya want now!" He shouted.

Someone from outside responded. "What was that, Maurice?"

Maurice shifted his weight. "Whadya bangin for?"

 _Knock knock knock._

"Whata bangin?"

Maurice gritted his teeth and disappeared behind the door, going around the truck to scold Eddie.

"We've got to let them go." I whispered. Grover nodded in agreement. Annabeth materialized next to me.

All three of us went back to the cages, opening them and letting the animals out.

I quickly dusted them off while Grover placed a hand on their forehead and mumbled something.

Maurice climbed back into the truck.

"What the-"

Albert jumped him. He fell out of the truck, his head hitting the pavement, and Albert went on running. The jackalope dashed after him, happy.

The zebra bowed his head. ' _I am forever in debt to you, Lord Perseus.'_

He galloped after Albert and the jackalope.

"Won't they be killed?" I said, staring at them. Crowds screamed and cheered, like this was some act a casino pulled.

Grover shook his head. "I placed the satyr's sanctuary on them."

"The goat what-now?"

He frowned. "Satyr's sanctuary. It grants them safe passage through civilization with 100% access to food, water, and shelter until they get to their destination. I have a feeling those three are going to stick together after what just happened."

"Why didn't you grant that to us? Would have been a lot safer." I countered

"It only works on wild animals."

"Oh, so it'd only work on Percy." Annabeth reasoned.

"Hey!"

"Just kidding." She smiled. "Let's get out of here."

We climbed out of the truck, stepping all over Maurice. Just outside, who I assumed was Eddie was staring dumbfounded at us, his jaw slack.

His phone snapped a picture and I panicked.

"You never saw us." I demanded.

He nodded, his eyes glazing over. "I never saw nothin."

Then he turned and marched down the street, disappearing into a casino.

Annabeth frowned, looking around. Some people were pointing and staring, taking more pictures.

"Let's hurry…"

We dashed down the street, opposite of where the other trio went.

ȣ

Ares was right.

I would have liked Vegas…

If we weren't being pursued by police.

Cop lights lit up the strip even brighter than the neon lights. As we weaved in and out of crowds, cops shouted and demanded us to surrender.

We even got caught twice, but my charmspeak and Annabeth's invisibility cap saved us.

I took Annabeth and Grover's hands, taking a sharp left into the only empty parking lot on the entire strip.

Pressed against the wall, covered by shadows, we tried to catch our breath.

"Gods Percy, why are you worth so much?" Annabeth managed.

I coughed up a lung. "No bloody clue."

Grover looked up at the sign. "Lotus Casino and Hotel… do you think we can sneak into a room?"

I swallowed. I didn't want to take the chance of someone noticing me.

"You can charmspeak someone into giving us a room, Perce." Annabeth pleaded. "I need a real bed."

"And foooood." Grover moaned.

I sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But only until the heat dies down. I don't need more police."

We carefully peered past the wall. A police woman was frowning, looking around for us. Then she dashed off, away from us.

We leaped into action. Without a breath, we scaled over bushes and stone to get to the hotel's entrance.

Annabeth held the door open and we slipped inside.

I slammed straight into someone, crumbling to the floor.

Annabeth gasped, covering her mouth. Grover stood, frozen in fear, staring at the person.

I looked up to find a man smiling down at me. His eyes were amber and his skin was darker than mine, his puffy afro matching his sparkly rhinestone suit. I decided to nickname him Afro Elvis.

"Welcome!" He boomed gleefully. "To the Lotus Casino and Hotel!"

I stared up at him, eyes wide. He helped me up to my feet, dusting off my shirt.

Annabeth's hand wrapped around the hilt of her dagger. Afro Elvis smiled went wider.

"You must have a reservation!" His deep voice shook me to the core, like thunder. "This way."

"Sorry, Afro Elvis," I stated. "We don't have a reservation."

His white teeth flashed, still smiling. "Of course you do," he insisted, dismissing the nickname. "Let's go get your unlimited gold cards."

I faltered. "Un… Unlimited what now?"

"Unlimited gold card. You get free access to food, drinks, and games located on the first two floors, waterpark excluded."

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Like, actual money?"

Afro Elvis nodded. "Unlimited money!"

She glanced at me and mouthed 'We have a reservation.'

"We do have a reservation, could you kindly show us to where we have to sign in?"

Without a blink, or looking away, or even moving much, Afro Elvis pulled out a clipboard.

"Sign here!"

Annabeth took a pen and signed on the dotted line, then took the three gold cards from his hand and dragged us to the elevator.

"That was easy." Grover said with some enthusiasm.

" _Too_ easy." I corrected. He dismissed my statement with a wave of his hand.

Annabeth looked at the card, then hit the number 50, at the very top.

The elevator started to move.

I shook my head. "I don't get it."

"Get what?" She said.

"No one is ever that happy," I tried. "Afro Elvis was too cheerful."

She frowned. "I don't know what you mean?"

I shook my head. "All I'm saying is that we should just sleep, then get the hell out of here."

She pouted. "One game? I think I saw a chariot car game."

She pleaded with the most adorable puppy eyes ever. Her irises turned to a silvery frost colour and her lip stuck out.

I huffed. "Fine, one hour. Then we leave. Agreed."

Grover and Annabeth nodded in unison.

The elevator door chimed and we walked straight into a room.

Grover looked around, shocked. "We got a penthouse?"

I dropped Ares' bag in shock.

Annabeth's eyes instantly scanned the walls and ceiling in admiration.

"I CALL THE TOP BED!" She announced and climbed up up the stairs to go collapse on a king sided bed about 3 flights up. Her blonde curls puffed out of sight.

Grover claimed the bed a flight under her, leaving me alone at the entrance of the elevator.

The room was so impressive, I'll leave it to your own imagination on what it looked like. I took a step out, letting the doors shut behind me.

Then I threw Ares' bag into the garbage and went straight to the bathroom.

ȣ

I emerged from the shower room, steam rolling off my skin. I glanced at the mirror, wiping the fog off.

My green eyes pierced through the glass, staring back at me. My black hair was smoothed back, my creamy brown skin cleaned of whatever had been on it - a mixture of Mississippi, burger grease, and monster dust I like to call 'gunk'.

I narrowed my eyes and thought for a moment. In a swirl of white, all the extra water on my got sucked away and swirled down the sink.

I scuffed slightly. "That would have so been nice to know before." I mumbled to myself, then pulled my clothes back on.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Going downstairs!" Annabeth shouted through the door. "See ya in a few!"

The elevator dinged, then there was silence.

I let a breath out and exited the bathroom. The sun was just starting to rise over the east horizon, which our room had a view of. I frowned.

"I spent 2 hours in the shower?" I mumbled. "It only felt like a half an hour…"

I shrugged off the suspicion, grabbing a blanket and curling up on the couch.

I watched the sun rise, wondering if it was either Apollo or Helios that drove the sun. Maybe they had joint custody?

Sometime shortly after, I nodded off into sleep. It was dreamless and peaceful, and so short too.

When I woke up, the sun was already at a 45 degree angle.

Well rested, I climbed off the couch and glided to the elevator and made my way to the lobby.

Somehow I got pulled into a game. This little girl about 5 years old immediately claimed me as her tag-a-long, dragging me from ride to ride. I didn't even know her name, something Rose, but she insisted to go on a rollercoaster and it all went south from that.

What felt like 5 hours later, her mother found us and cheerfully thanked me, dragging the girl away.

I collasped at a bar.

The bartender smiled at me. "Anything I can get you?"

"Just a soda... " I thought for a moment. "Do you have blue cream soda?'

The lady smiled and walked a little down the counter, then came back with a glass bottle of bright blue liquid.

"We have anything you need!" She announced. "Just call me if you need me, sweetheart."

She disappeared to go tend to someone.

I took a sip of the drink, watching the tv.

"Snap out of it." Someone stated next to me.

I frowned and glanced over at the person.

The girl was a year older than me, her pink eyes watching me angrily.

"Do… Do I know you?" I stated, confused.

She narrowed her eyes, her black hair falling over her pale face.

"No, you don't, dear brother." She decided. "You need to snap out of this."

I blinked. "Brother?"

She dismissed my question with a wave of her hand. "That little girl, Mary Rose. How old is she?"

"Dunno," I admitted. "5?"

"Are you sure?"

I blinked again, even more confused.

"Yes…"

She raised a perfectly arch eyebrow.

"... How old is she?" I tried to charmspeak her.

She sighed. "Close to 60."

"You mean 6?"

"Did I stutter?" She stated. "Go ask her mother what year it is. Go ask that boy at the Pacman arcade room. Or the old lady at the knitting simulation machine."

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

She scowled. "You're smart, Percy. Use your head, don't let the magic get to you."

She stood up, dusting her pale blue tunic, then strided past me. I turned around to say something to her, but she was gone. At my feet was a blue nylon backpack - the one Ares gave us.

I glanced at my cream soda. Taking a deep breath, I ditched the glass, slung the bag on my shoulder, and went to the nearest person - a girl of Italian hues with a simple cream dress and a green floppy hat.

"Excuse me," I broke her concentration on whatever game she was playing. "What's the year?"

She frowned. "19… 1937." she decided, then went back to her game.

I frowned, then moved on to another person.

"What year is it?"

"1968!"

"What year is it?"

"2000"

"What year is it?"

"1921."

Each time I asked, I got a different response.

I watched Afro Elvis greet people as the passed by the door. They smiled, the passed him without one glance at the doors.

What year _was_ it?

I sprinted past people, desperately searching for Annabeth and Grover.

I found the former first, at a 3-D Sims game board.

She scowled as I stepped inside of the hologram of the skyscraper.

"Annabeth, wake up!" I cried. She tried to shove me out of the way, mumbling calculations under her breath.

"Annabeth!"

She ignored me, designing her 6th floor.

A thought bubbled into my head.

I grabbed her wrists and stared her straight in the easy, pulling as my charmspeak as I could.

"There is a spider on your back." I insisted.

Her eyes widened and she screamed, spinning around to try and look at her back.

I smacked her. "Snap out of it!"

She stared wildly at me. "You charmspoke me?"

"The hotel, it's a trap." I poured my charmspeak into my words. "It's charmspeaking us, coaxing us into believing we should stay forever."

"Okay, and?"

"The bolt? Annabeth, I just asked people what year it was."

"2006."

"Someone told me 1919."

She frowned. "What?"

"Like I said, this place is a trap. We need to leave, now."

She took one look at the sim at her feet. Then she nodded.

"Let's go get Grover."

ȣ

He was at a reverse hunting game, where the deer hunted the rednecks.

"Die, filthy mortal!" He roared and tried to shoot me with the toy gun, a crazy look in his eyes.

I took the peanut butter, ketchup, and cauliflower sandwich and shoved it into his mouth, cringing violently as he choked.

I silently thanked my lucky stars that the bartender didn't question the combination.

"Did you just Bobofit me?"

"Yes." I stomped my foot. "You tried to kill me with a toy gun."

Grover wiped the nasty gunk off the side of his mouth. "What's so important?"

I explained to both of them how everyone I asked gave me a different year.

"This is a trap," I said loudly. The charmspeak rippled through the crowd, making everyone pause. Afro Elvis turned to face us, though I wasn't paying him any attention. "We need to get out of here."

Grover sighed. "One more-"

"No," I growled, startling him a little. "We need to leave right now."

I paused. "Sorry… I didn't mean to…"

Grover stood up and grabbed my hands. "It's okay. I'm 28, it's not my first time being growled at."

We weaved through the crowd, going to the front door.

Afro Elvis stopped us, holding diamond studded cards.

"We just opened a 3rd floor of games!" He smiled down at us. He tried to hand the cards to me.

"No," I said. "We're leaving."

His smile faltered a little. "The cards have unlimited everything, including waterpark."

A waterpark pass was tempting, even after the cupid incident. I shook my head.

"We have important matters to attend to."

I guided my friends out of the sparkly doors of the Lotus Casino and Hotel, slinging Ares' bookbag up further on my shoulder.

I didn't look back.


	20. Annabeth saves my life again

We hailed a taxi down at the edge of the MGM, the moon high in the sky.

The driver, a man in his forties, scowled as the three of us slipped into the backseat.

"We don't accept childrens," he scuffed. "Out."

"Do you accept casino cards?" Annabeth stated boldly. He frowned.

"Depends."

She handed him her casino gold card, as well as mine and Grover's.

He frowned.

"Swipe it." Annabeth instructed. He turned around and swiped the card. Instantly, the machine's numbers flashed until it decided to settle on a sideways 8.

His cigar dropped from his mouth, nearly burning his lap.

"Where would you like to go, your majesty."

"Santa Monica, as fast as you can."

He nodded and stepped on the gas, zooming out of Vegas and barreling towards the nearest highway.

I slid the glass panel shut.

"Tell us everything, Percy." Annabeth whispered. "Why did you question what year it was?"

I told them about the pink eyes saviour, the weird feeling I had from being at the top of the hotel and seeing the sun rising.

"It only felt like part of a day." I shook my head. "Who knows how long we have."

Annabeth glanced out the window. Then she opened the separator.

"What's today's date?"

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "June Twenty First."

Grover choked.

Annabeth nearly slammed the glass shut, her eyes wide.

"We spent 5 days in there?!"

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Were we too late?

The clock on the radio read '3:01 am' I choked back a sob.

"We have less than 21 hours to bring the master bolt back," Grover's chin trembled. "How are we going to find it and bring it back?"

I took a deep breath. "I have no idea, but maybe the weird dreams I've been having can help…"

I launched into a story, starting with the dream from the night of the Minotaur attack all the way up to the dream I had right before we came to Vegas.

Annabeth pulled her dagger out and shifted it from hand to hand, deep in thought.

"That's not Hades." She decided. "Hades always appears on his throne. Always."

"But he has the bolt, right?" I said. "It has to be him."

"I want it to be…" She started, shen shook her head. "It can't be, the facts don't add up."

"We'll go to the underworld anyways." I reasoned. "He's got an undead army, maybe I could persuade him to help?"

"I've never seen anyone charmspeak a god before." She admitted.

"No one has had your power in ages, though. Maybe it'll work. You can threaten him or blackmail him somehow" Grover added.

I whistled. "You are one dark satyr, my friend."

He smiled sheepishly.

"The Crooked One…" I recalled. "That's what that servant called him.

Ananbeth's eyebrows knitted together. "You'll typically hear the nickname 'Silent One' or 'Rich One.' Never Crooked though."

"Then who's the Crooked One?"

She shook her head. "Dunno. Never heard it before."

She paled dramatically. "Oh…"

"Oh what?"

She shook her head. "It can't be. It has to have been Hades, Percy."

"Why?" I demanded.

"The Furies, at the bus. They were asking ' _where was_ _**it**_ _._ ' They weren't talking about you. They were talking about the bolt. Hades had someone steal the bolt, and he must have lost it."

I sat there, stunned. Annabeth just had a change of heart, like some fact twisted the entire image.

"You just said the facts don't add up."

"Percy, it has to be. No one else would do this."

I tried to counter her, but she glared me down.

We sat in silence, watching the Mojave Desert zoom past.

I felt like I was missing something important, like I forgot to mention something.

Soon, the California Welcome sign zipped past and we were hurtling to Santa Monica.

My mind wondered. The more I thought about it, Hades didn't seem the likely culprit. Sure, Drew's theory made sense, but why would Hades steal something that powerful? He had a helmet that could roll fear over you and make you completely invisible. He controlled all the riches under the surface, and had an army of the unkillable. Why didn't he just reforge another bolt with the dead's best blacksmiths?

Something tickled at the back of my head. Hades was a peaceful god, at least by Greece's standards. It was Kora, Hades' wife, who was renamed Persephone because she was the dangerous one. The facts truly didn't add up.

Yet here we were, sailing down the freeway at 95 miles an hour, betting our shiniest penny that he'll have the bolt. And if he didn't, we were relying on my uncontrollable power to charm him into helping us. What if I wasn't strong enough? What if Annabeth and Grover die because I say one word incorrectly and he snaps out of the charm? What if I die before we can even get there.

What if I couldn't save my own mother?

I reached into my pocket, my hand wrapping around Riptide. Ares' little note brushed against my knuckles, scraping me.

I took a deep breath, then pulled the note out.

"Ares said my mom's alive." I told the two, who looked up at me. I shoved Grover the note. He read it out loud, then looked up at me with beady eyes.

"Percy…"

"Hades took her." I said. "People don't die in a bright blue light. He has her, motivation. Even if we can blackmail him, he can blackmail us back. And…"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "If necessary, I would die to bring her and you two back to the mortal world unhurt."

"Percy…" Annabeth warned

"I swear that on the Styx."

Thunder rolled outside, sealing my oath.

I looked at my lap, avoiding their gaze.

The driver sped off the freeway, finally slowing down.

We didn't say another thing until we got to the beach.

We waved the taxi driver off, thanking him for somehow getting up there in just under 3 hours.

I turned to the surf. "This is it."

The morning sun was starting to rise in the east, marking the longest day of the year. It was exactly 5:43 am.

"What now?"

We paced down the beach, watching the black tide move sluggishly.

Something in my gut tugged me towards the surf. I obeyed.

I walked straight into the water, shoes and all. First to my ankles, then my knees.

"Percy, what are you doing?!" Annabeth called after me.

The water was cool, not dramatically so, but just enough to contrast with the warm air of the beach.

I kept walking, the tide rising to my waist and up my torso. I closed my eyes.

"Do you have any idea how much toxins are probably in that water? wHAT IF YOU GROW-"

My head went underwater.

I held my breath, afraid that if I breath in, that I'll drown.

Finally, I couldn't help it anymore. I gasped, opening my eyes.

Water rushed down my lungs like silk, energising me.

I breathed out, bubbled spilling out of my mouth. Then I took another breath, then exhaled only water.

"Woah." I looked around. I couldn't see anything, but at the same time I could see everything. I could see the cold currents mixing with the warm currents. I could see every sand dollar colony round me, glowing a lazy green. I could see the rip currents, turning purple in the cold blue and warm red mixture.

Something brushed up against my leg. Looking down, I nearly shot out of the water in panic.

A huge shark with a black tipped fin was circling my legs, nudging me.

Delicately, I bent down and pet the blacktip. To my surprise, the shark was not smooth at all. I couldn't describe it right, it was almost like an actual grate.

No, it was not a grate white, stop snickering.

The shark brushed up, it's fin brushing against my hand. I got the feeling it wanted be to latch on.

I did, grabbing lightly on the fin and floating up into a board position, and we took off.

In no time, we were at the edge of the ocean proper, the sand bank slicing down into an underwater canyon.

The shark wiggled out of my grasped, turned to face me, seemed to have bowed, then shot upwards.

I looked up, gasping.

The surface glittered like a gem at least a hundred and fifty feet above my head. I should have been crushed under the pressure, but here I was. Perfectly fine.

Something glowed blue to my left, right over the canyon.

I turned and found myself face to face with a girl who could have been either 16 or 30 smiling at me. Her coral green eyes watched me, her pink hair flowing around her.

"You're the girl. The one from the river!" I exclaimed. She nodded.

"I'm a Nereid." She informed me, giggling a little at my reaction. "An ocean spirit. I'm so sorry for the connection loss in the Mississippi. Fresh water isn't healthy for me."

"How did you… then?" My brain scattered for a moment, leaving me confused.

"My cousins, the Naiads, pulled in a favour. They respect Poseidon, even though they don't serve in his court."

"Poseidon…" I mumbled. "Did he send you?"

She nodded. "He's interested in you. You've been so brave in your journey in trying to clear his name."

I held back the urge to correct her that I was only trying to clear my name. I didn't really like Poseidon, but I might just been tired of being thought of as his son.

"He wanted me to apologise for him."

That shocked me. I nearly fell off the proper.

"What?"

"He can't do it in person, Zeus has him under a tight fist… er, so to speak." She mused. "But he felt your… distaste towards him."

"Everyone thinks I'm his son," I grumbled.

"You do look like him," She commented. "But that is for him to address."

She pulled something out of the pocket of her dress. A small sack.

"Lord Poseidon hopes this would be enough to mend the break in a bridge he wants to build."

"What… what is that?"

I took the sack and opened it. Three milky white orbs shimmered inside.

"Sea pearls?" I looked up. "What for?"

She pierced her lips. "You will be entering the Underworld, a realm out of reach of most gods. Only 3 of them can help you, none of which are interested in helping you. Hades is not pleased that you're blaming him for such an act, he would never let you willingly leave."

She gestured to the bag. "In dire situations, take one pearl and crush it under your foot."

"What will happen?"

"That, my dear demigod, depends on the situation. One pearl equals one person, and what comes from the sea always return to the sea."

She started to shimmer, fading.

"Listen to your heart." She called out. "The Silent One will make you doubt your beliefs. Follow your heart, not your head, or you will mistrust yourself. Save us, Son of Love."

She got whisked away in a current of red, leaving me alone.

ȣ

Annabeth and Grover were waiting back on the shore.

Annabeth nearly gutted me with her knife, frantically tugging me away from the water.

"What were you thinking!"

"I have gifts."

"You could have- wait, what?"

I held up the bag of pearls. "They were free."

"There is no such thing as a free lunch." She stated. "It's a greek saying that translated pretty well into English. There is a price, there always is."

With that happy note, we started walking and talking. I told them about what happened down unda the sea, convincing a McDonald's employee to give us free food.

Annabeth munched on her Big Breakfast pancake, pacing down some random avenue. "If I were the entrance to the underworld, where would I be?"

I shrugged, watching the pedestrians pass by. "Dunno, but we don't have enough time to search all over the city. Gods know how long that would take."

We wandered around for at least half the day, asking people where DOA Recording was. No one seemed to know what we were talking about. We avoided cops, slicing through alleys that twisted my mind.

I was from New York. Everything there was gridlocked, straight, and simple. You could know exactly where your were and navigate through all the communities without getting lost.

LA was different. While New York was as straight-lined as uncooked spaghetti, LA was a pot of overcooked noodles. The streets twisted and turned in shapes I didn't know streets could take. I got too lost too easily, which made me frustrated.

Was passed a TV with the news on it.

Gabe was on the screen.

I paused, turning back to look at the newscast.

"... Barbara Walter, I ask you, plead you. Percy Jackson is worse than some terrorist, worse than some criminal. He took his mother's life, he must be caught." Gabe mocked his sadness and sorrow, a fake tear trickling down his cheek. Barbara Walters turned back to the camera.

"A man torn apart at the seams, all thanks to a boy who replaced Dexter Morgan on the FBI's most wanted wall. Here are the most recent pictures of Mr. Jackson."

Two pictures popped on the screen. To the left was a picture of Ares and I arguing. Our faces were grainy. To the right, there was a much clearer picture of Annabeth, Grover, and I standing over Maurice, looking crazy in our dirt covered neon swirls.

"Who is the man in the picture? Who are the two other kids? Is this the next generation of terrorism or is this some disturbing new cult? Stay tuned, America, because up next we'll be talking to a child psychologist on his thoughts about what's going on."

Annabeth shook me. "Come on, we should get going."

Angry, I followed the blonde away from the window.

ȣ

It was 3 pm when it all went downhill.

Tired, dehydrated, and sore, we trudged into an alleyway.

"Hey!" Someone called from behind us.

Like and idiot, I turned around to see who was calling.

Some teenagers dressed in rich clothes and mean faces smirked, surrounding us like sharks.

"You lost, kids?" The biggest, oldest one said, cracking his knuckles.

I pulled Riptide out, instincts taking over.

"What's it matter to you?"

Someone whistled. "A brit. far from home, aren't you?"

I let out an annoyed sigh. "Why does everyone think I'm British? No, _mate_ , I'm from New York."

The group, about 10 teenagers total, started laughing.

I uncapped Riptide, the bronze blade growing to life in my left hand.

Startled, most of the kids stumbled back at the sight of a sword coming out of nowhere.

Most.

The older one took a step forward, pulling out a switch knife.

I made the mistake of swinging.

For a split moment, I thought I was going to kill him. I didn't want to kill and actual person.

The blade sliced straight through him, like he wasn't even there, and came out clean on the other end.

The guy stumbled back, terrified. The sword left no mark on him whatsoever. "What the-"

"RUN!" Annabeth grabbed my free hand and we made a mad dash out of the alley, past the startled kids. Grover fled after us.

"After them!" Someone shouted. There was a petty battle cry, then the sound of kids trying not to ruin there Jordans.

We made a random turn, then another one, before Annabeth pointed at a sign.

"There!"

We nearly broke down the doors of the place she pointed at, not bothering to read the sign because it was neon.

We fell into a heap at the foot of a tall man, in which we had startled.

The kids ran right past the place, not giving it a second glance.

"Uh…" I looked up at the man. "Sorry?"

He watched the kids outside. "Damn rich folk, runnin' around, thinkin they own the place."

Annabeth helped me to my feet, dusting the wrinkles out of my shirt I swatted her hand, annoyed.

We turned around and was face to chest with the man. He smiled down at us.

"Welcome to Crusty's Water Bed Palace!" He announced. "Best waterbeds in the universe. Why don't we going shop for something you'd like?"


	21. Ergo 'til ya drop

I hesitated, not expecting that name. "Um…"

I looked around the store. Sure enough, waterbeds were everywhere, and they weren't your typical beds. All shapes, sizes, and colours. Some hand headboards built in, while some had framing instead. Pillows riddled most, but there were bed sheets and fluffy fur covers on others instead.

My mouth dropped. "Woah."

The man, who I assume is Crusty, was _really_ crusty.

I'm not exaggerating, he looked like a raptor in a leisure suit.

He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair other than bushy eyebrows the colour of ravens. He had gray, leathery skin with a greasy shine to it. Thick-lidded eyes covered his sickly green and yellow eyes, along with a cold, reptilian smile under his crooked nose. He moved slowly, but I got the feeling he could move fast if he needed to.

His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It definitely belonged back in the seventies, no joke. The shirt was a pale blue silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck… I couldn't even count them.

I cringed so badly staring at him, so I focused on the waterbeds.

"Sure, we might as well, since we're here." I didn't want to, but my mom, my mortal one mind you, would have scolded me.

' _Always take the hospitality of someone else, don't be rude'_

Gods, why did I have to remember her right now.

Crusty smiled, his yellow teeth glittering in the fluorescent light. "Great!"

He guided us around the store, giving us a lecture on why his waterbeds were the best.

We stopped in front of a sleek black bed with a built in black headboard with Lava Lamps also built in.

"This one has the Million-Hand-Massage technology built in, as well as stabilizers so your headboard stays in place."

He picked up a remote and pressed the little green button. The queen-sized bed jiggled and looked like the world's largest emo Jello cake

"Million-Hand-Massage?" Grover dove right onto the bed starfish style, happy.

Crusty frowned. "Mh… almost."

He turned to Annabeth. "Dear, do you mind laying on this one?"

"But-"

Crusty guided her to one covered in owls, a tree-like frame surrounded it. It seemed like something she would have in her cabin.

When she didn't want to lay down, he pushed her down on the bed.

"Hey!" I protested, not liking what I was seeing.

"Not quite…." He sighed, then snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"

Instantly, four leather ropes matching the beige colouring of Annabeth's bed wrapped around her ankles and wrists.

Grover tried to get up, but the same thing happened to him.

"Aaaagahghaghaaghh" His voice vibrated from the wave affects of the massage. "Nah-nah-naht coo-oo-o-ol"

I tried to step away, to avoid a similar fate, but Crusty's clawed hand grabbed me by the scruff of my neck.

"Let my friends go." I demanded.

"I will, after the stretching job is done."

"The… the what?"

"Stretching jobs. It should add a few inches to their spines, they might even survive! Now let's go find you a bed you like and we'll fit you into it."

I needed a distraction. I was not ready to die, even if we were going to the underworld anyways. We were too close, too many people were counting on me.

Plus, I sleep of my stomach starfish style. I need the bed to be bigger because then my legs won't hang off.

I looked at Crusty's name tag. "Your name isn't Crusty, is it?"

He sighed. "Technically, no. It's Procrustes. But Crusty is so much easier for people to remember."

"Oh I get it, marketing. Procrustes' Water Bed Palace doesn't have the same 'vavavoom' that Crusty's Water Bed Palace has."

"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "I'm glad you understand, no one does."

"And the workmanship on these beds!" I exclaimed, my charmspeak taking over for me. "So beautiful and well thought out. Who would have thought that you could make a bed into a massage station? Or have such a beautiful print on that Safari one? So realistic."

"I know, no one thinks about this stuff!" Crusty agreed.

"But has anyone ever pointed that out?" I asked. "Has anyone actually stopped to tell you how amazing these are?"

"No," He wailed. "They always want boring grey. Who want's boring grey?"

"My point exactly." I nodded as best as I could. "Grey is so overrated and outdated."

"Percy, what the heck are you doing!" Annabeth shouted, slightly angry.

"Ignore her," I said calmly. "She's impossible."

"They all are." He informed me. "They never appreciate their stretchings. You see, each bed is exactly 6 feet in length, the ideal height. If they don't fit, they aren't perfect."

"I have a question?"

He hummed in response, his greenish yellow eyes watching me like a snake.

"What of they don't fit because they're too tall?" I tilted my head.

He let go of my neck and turned around, snatching a double edged ax from a sales cart.

I stood firmly in place, a plan bubbling into my mind. A small voice whispered to me, the same one from the minotaur attack; the same one at Aunty Em's

 _You can do this, Percy. We need you. Annabeth and Grover need you._

"I center them just right, then chop off the access." Crusty informed.

"Reasonable," I nodded. "You can't unstretch someone."

Annabeth was starting to squawk like an owl in pain; Grover was gurgling like a goose, the massage still on.

I noticed the Valentine Honeymoon Deluxe Water Bed three rows down.

"Does that say it has dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?" I pointed at the bed. Crusty turned to look at whatever I was pointing at.

"Of course it does! Why, you interested in it?"

"Very, it would fit nicely back home." I state firmly.

He frowned. "You don't strike me as a-"

"Pink person?" I finished for him, knowing perfectly well he probably thought I was Poseidon's son instead. "I'm all about breaking gender stereotypes. I love pink!"

I swallowed some bile that came up while I said that.

Did I already mention I don't like pink?

He didn't have to know that.

"You do?"

"Of course, and my mother would love it too!" I smiled, like I was pride-filled. "Aphrodite. And just like she, I expect only the best of the best."

"Oh, I can assure you that this is the best!" He clapped his hands together and we walked towards thee bed.

I poked the fabric, then frowned.

"Are you sure it'll make no waves?"

"Guaranteed."

"You positive?"

"Of course."

"... Are you really sure?"

The charmspeak started to set in. His eyebrows furrowed together into a unibrow.

"I…"

"I don't want a false offer, Crusty." I reasoned. "Prove to me that it makes no waves - lay on it. You're much heavier than I, surely you would cause waves."

"Impossible!" He roared.

There was a stomach churning pause where I feared he would throw me on the bed instead and Ergo me to death

The he plopped down on it. True to his words, there was no ripple. He sank right in as if it was a regular mattress. I felt the water in the bed compress around his weight, so it wasn't a hoax.

"See!"

I snapped my fingers. "Ergo!"

Pink braided ribbons lashed around his wrists and ankles.

"Wait!"

"Center him just right."

The ribbons obeyed me and shifted him so exactly 6 inches hung off each end.

"No, wait, this is just a live demonstration." He protested.

His protests met deaf ears.

"Which end should I start with?" I mused.

"Neither!" His eyes were wide. I plucked the ax from his hand.

"Inny Minny Miney Mo." I sang.

"I'll give you 3 months no interest!"

"Catch a tiger by his toe." I swung the ax back in forth between his feet and his head.

"6 months?"

"If he hollers, let him go." I sang louder, slightly annoyed.

"70 percent off this bed?"

"Really, you'd do that for me?" I batted my lashes, pausing my decision. Charmspeak flooded the room.

"Yes?"

I pondered that offer for a second.

"Naw." I decided, then swung down.

Crusty stopped making offers.

I ran back to Annabeth and Grover, slicing their ties off their joints.

"Gods, Percy, why did you take so long?" Grover moaned, laying on the floor. I smiled apologetically.

"That was kinda smart," Annabeth admitted. I narrowed my eyes, inspecting her.

"What?"

"Nothing… I just… I swear you just seem a little taller." I smirked.

She glared at me. "Very funny."

I left them to adjust to their new height, going back to the front and searching for some cash.

A bright orange paper caught my attention, down at the bottom shelf of the island.

I bent down and plucked it up.

'DOA Recording Studios - for all your dead needs. Currently accepting new talent! Qualifications - Singing, Dancing, Death, and Instrument experience.'

Right under was the address.

I smiled, clutching the paper in my hand and standing up. I snatched up a bag of drachma's and an ax sling, then went back to the others.

"Come on, let's go!" I exclaimed while fixing the ax so it'll hang on my hip.

"Give us a minute," Grover moaned, still on the floor. "We almost got stretched to death."

I clapped my hands together, smiling. "Great, you're ready for the Underworld. It's just up the road."

I showed them the neon orange paper.

"How… convenient." Annabeth mumbled.

I shrugged. "Crusty being this close to the entrance wouldn't shock me. He probably wanted to make it easier on the people who die. Marketing reasons."

"Whatever." She rubbed her shoulders. "Could we just rest?"

"And wait more time than we already have?" I pointed out. "It's almost 3:15 o'clock Annabeth. We're like 4 hours behind New York."

"3," she corrected.

"Whatever."

Grover mumbled something under his breath, then stood up. "So it's about 6:15 there? That leaves, what, 5 to 6 hours?"

"5 and three forth on an hour to find the bolt and get it to New York." My gut dropped. "That's not enough time."

"We won't fail." Annabeth clenched her fists. "Let's do this."

We marched out of Crusty's Water Bed Palace and turned south, heading straight for the Underworld.

* * *

 **AN: Short Chapter, yet no fricks given**

 **As most of you may notice, I am posting a lot more a lot sooner. Hopefully it stays like this, since I'm writing about 3,000+ words a day, or about a chapter a day.**

 **It won't be like this for long though. School is just over a month away from starting and I will have to put my focus to that. So, for now, just enjoy the almost daily updates**


	22. Pretty Pretty, Shiny Shiny, Deathy Death

We stood at the edge of Valencia Boulevard, staring at the black marble building with the big bronze letters.

"Dead on Arrival Recording Studios." I announced to Annabeth and Grover. One the door was sleek black letters: No Loitering, Littering, or Living.

"It's never too late to turn around." Grover offered.

"Go in, Grover."

He obeyed.

Annabeth and I followed him in.

"Remember the plan," Annabeth hissed.

"Great, _that_ plan." Grover moaned.

"Don't be negative." I chided.

"We're going into the Land of the Dead, and you just told me to not be negative?" He retorted. "Did you forget who lives there?"

I shivered. "Don't remind me."

The whole place looked like a hollowed out law firm. There were lots of desks with files on them, as well as couches and potted cacti as ghostly white as the people hovering in the room.

Annabeth placed a hand on my shoulder. "We can do this. We're gonna go down there and save your mother and the bolt."

I looked up at her. Her grey eyes were soft like the under feathers of an owl. And she hugged me.

Someone hissed at us, their voice lost forever.

We paced up to the man in an Italian suit that looked expensive. He was on a raised podium in the very center of the building, which forced us to look up.

I took one glance at his name and nearly stumbled over myself.

"I'm sorry, your name is Chiron?"

He looked up from his magazine, which read ' **Hera and Zeus' scandal? Queen of the gods still torn over stepdaughter Thalia's existence'** in bright yellow greek.

He scowled. "No, little boy." Standing up, he watched us with sunglasses black as night. His smile reminded me of an alligator hunting for it's dinner. His skin was smooth and dark, as dark as the strongest mug of coffee. His hair was thin upon his scalp, a dark blue. Like a sky to the east just before the sun was completely below the horizon. His ears were pierced, little skeletons of silver dangling like hangmen.

"Do I look like a horse to you?"

His accent was very similar to mine, but he also sounded like English was not his first language.

"No." I admitted.

"Read this for me. My name is C-H-A-R-O-N, not C-H-I-R-O-N. Say it with me - Care-on."

"Care-in." I said softly.

He pierced his lips, then decided it was good enough.

"Now say Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Care-in."

He sat back in his chair in satisfaction. "Very good. I hate being confused with some half horse men. How can I help you, little boy?"

Annabeth proudly held up her chin and looked him straight in the glasses. "We want to pass into the Afterlife."

He cocked a blue eyebrow at us. "Very straight forward, highly admirable, and quite refreshing too. Very well, how did you three die?"

"We, er, drowned." I lied.

His eyebrow went higher. "You did? All three of you?"

Grover nodded. "In a bathtub."

Charon hesitated.

"It was more of a jacuzzi than a bathtub." I corrected

We nodded in unison.

He frowned. "Well you can't pass until you pay. Normally I would charge it on you last cable bill or take it from a random savings account you had, but you three are just children."

His picked his magazine back up. "Go wait over on a couch or something, until I feel generous-"

Annabeth placed the three golden drachmas I gave her on the desktop, startling Charon.

His glasses caught the glint of the gold.

"Are those…"

"Gold coins." She announced. "I used them for show and tell earlier today."

He licked his lips greedily and started to take the coins.

His hand paused an inch away. Then he looked at us.

And took a huge sniff.

Charon spoke slowly. "You, boy, you read my name wrong. Are you dyslexic?"

"No," I stated, mildly agitated. "I'm dead."

He sniffed the air again, then scowled.

"Demigods." He mumbled, his hair shimmering into a fiery red. "I should have known."

"Mr. Charon, sir, we need to get to the Underworld." I stated. He shook his head.

"Rules were clear, boy. No living allowed. Begone. I'll just take these and all four of us can forget-"

I swiped the coins up before he could say another word.

"No service," I charmspoke. "No. Tip."

He took his sunglasses off, his irises as white as the clouds, his pupil as dark as space. He started to growl at us.

All over the room, the spirits started to stir. People, dead people, started to pace around. Angry murmurs bubbled to life. There was a pounding sound to our right, on the elevator door.

Our ride, if we could get to it in time.

"Such a shame, really." I flipped a coin between my fingers. "Such a beautiful metal, all gone to waste because of some bloody rule."

I looked up at him, green meeting white.

"We have more, too."

Charon's growl stopped.

"You think I can be bought, demigod? It won't work."

I held my hands up in mock surrender. Wisely, both Annabeth and Grover took a few paces back.

"Oh, me? Little ol' me bribing someone like you?" I said sweetly. "Well…. I sure hope Hades pays you enough if you're reluctant to take our offer."

His mouth parted slightly.

"What are you talking about?"

I plucked the sack of coins from my belt loop, pulling coins out one at a time.

"Those Italian suits seem genuine. They mustn't be cheap?"

He nodded slowly. "They aren't."

"Yet it looks like you bought it just today!" I spilled the coins back into the bag. "You I guess you haven't got a need for us demigods to supply your income. Guess we'll just have to leave."

I started to turn to leave.

The magic took hold of Charon's conscious.

"Wait. How many do you have?"

"Oh, drachmas?" I turned back to face him, tilting my head. "A lot. But such a shame you won't let us cross the river. All this," I bounced the heavy coin sack in my hand to exaggerate, "could have been yours."

His eyes grew hungry.

"He doesn't pay you enough, does he?"

"You have no idea," he breathed. "It's been millenium since I've seen a drachma like that one."

I smiled. "One way trip for three living demigods, and it's all yours."

"DEAL."

The spirits jumped back, confused at the outburst. Charon swiped the sack out of my hand, about 40 drachmas total, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"You three, come with me."

Annabeth and Grover looked at each other, then at me, then followed Charon as he stalked to the elevator.

He poked a staff at the spirits, causing them to disperse. "Pesky freelancers." He grumbled, annoyed. I silently hoped that the annoying spirits didn't spark a change of heart for Charon.

We squeezed into an elevator big enough for an elephant to sit in, at watched the black steel doors shut.

"You three stay silent and act dead."

I didn't know how to act dead, so I just stayed silent as the elevator started to go downwards

My stomach churned after a good 10 seconds, then I realised we were going sideways now.

The steel melted around us, turning into a vast river. The floor beneath my feet turned into wood, a rocking motion setting in.

I peered over the edge of the boat.

I recalled the stories. There were two rivers you could cross to get to the Underworld - Hermes and the Acheron, or Charon and the Styx.

Below me, spreading all around us, was the very river I swore to.

The Styx was not in good shape either.

Water that might have once been clear was a dusky brown, items floating, dissolving.

A broke rattle; Someone's high school diploma; part of a Nascar steering wheel.

Broken items from broken dreams.

I saw a face, too.

A woman with snowy white hair and ebony skin watched be from atop a wardrobe that was floating in the distance, red eyes piercing into my soul.

"She's out again." Charon scowled, then looked down at me. "You better hold true to your oath, whatever it is. Styx does not take broken oaths lightly."

I looked up at him, then back at the lady. She smiled, pearly whites flashing, then she turned into a dove and flew off to the black walls in the distance.

I swallowed the ball of fear in my throat and focused my gaze on the land rapidly approaching.

"You really have a way with words, Perseus Jackson." Charon broke the silence again. I stiffened at my full name. "You might have persuaded me, but Hades isn't as easy to sway. I'd watch that mouth of yours, if I were you. The last charm speaker to cross this river thought he could challenge my boss. He never came back out."

I blinked, focusing on the horizon.

"Hades is not going to be happy with you either." He continued, steering us towards a dock at a gap in the black walls. "Especially when he realises your true parentage."

"Not many people have realised it," I stated, keeping my gaze on the shore. "They all think I am a son of the sea."

"You do look like Poseidon." He mused. "But I can answer you this, Perseus. You are no son of Poseidon. You were never one. Your soul is fresh. It's never lived before. Such a shame you had to die at 12."

"I'm not dead quite yet, Mr. Charon." I pointed out. "I made it this far, I will make it farther."

He scuffed. "You're ambitious. Very well, this is your stop. Good luck on your quest, what's left of it."

The boat slid onto the shore. The dove watched me from the top of a golden gate bedazzled with breathtaking jewels.

I stepped off, then turned around to face him. He changed since we started the trip, his suit had melted into blackened rags and his face turned into black bones.

It was hard to look at him, but I did.

"Thank you, Mr. Charon." I smiled. "You won't regret ferrying us across."

His smile shook me to the bones.

Get it?

Because he was a skeleton now?

No?

How dare you, you need to appreciate more puns.

Then he turned his boat around and floated back into the darkness, towards the empty elevator doors.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Oh my gods, we're actually here. In the actual Underworld…"

"It's a lot less red than I thought it would be." I admitted.

Grover shook in his Nike's.

"Let's do this." He whispered. "Let's go save Olympus from itself."

We walked towards the gates of hell.

ȣ

I have no idea what I expected.

Maybe some elaborant system that weeded out the bad ones from the good ones. Or servants flying around lashing whips at poor souls.

It was even worse

It was like Black Friday got held at an airport.

But everyone was already dead. And there was no violence.

There was this arch taller than the Gateway Arch, with tree mini arches underneath it. Hologram-like letters shimmered white at the very top: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS.

The arches in the middle and to the left was backed up big time, souls following red velvet ropes that twisted around like mazes.

The right one, which had a banner that read 'E-Z Death', was moving as fast as humanly possible, ghosts turning dusty grey the closer they got.

Positioned between us and the arches was the world's largest three-headed dog.

"Wait, Cerberus is a... "

My voice died in my throat.

In front of us, Cerberus the black Maltese was guarding the entrance of the very essence of hell.

Annabeth's face was unreadable in the darkness. She was watching the skies, on the lookout for someone. Probably the three garbage grandma's that lived here. If we got caught by them, we'd be immediately taken to the fields of punishment.

A ghost a few ways down from us suddenly started screaming, being plucked in the air by some flying object I couldn't identify.

Instantly, all three of us ducked down for cover behind a jagged stone. We watched as a rounded man in black and white go up and towards a glowing red field, old withered laughing of women mixing into his screams.

"Isn't that the priest who stole all that money?" I pointed out.

Grover frowned. "Preacher, Percy."

"Same diff."

Grover nodded. "Hades takes special attention to those who exploit their power."

I watched the man kick the air. He had raised millions of dollars for charities to help humane and adoption centers, only to use all the funds for himself. I watched in the train car, right after St. Louis, as police pursued him live. He went over the edge of a cliff in his 'Lamborghini for the Lord', and had bleed to death before officials could get to him. Now, a week later, he was being dragged to his punishment.

I frowned. "He was Christian though, shouldn't he be somewhere else?"

Grover shrugged. "He's a mortal. Your kind are very stubborn about what you want to believe. He might be seeing something else, in his imagination."

I stayed silent.

Annabeth's face turned to the Maltese. "Let's focus on getting pass that."

I turned to face Cerberus. The middle head was sniffing the air, then looked over at us. I dove back down.

"Sh*t." I mumbled. "He knows we're here."

"Percy," Annabeth started.

"If we die now, do we restart?" I continued.

"Percy."

"How does one recross the river Styx?"

"Come on, we're going to Hades' Palace." Annabeth took Ares' bag from off the ground, since I spilled it off and got up, stalking over to the terrifyingly cute dog. "Follow me."

We did.

It spotted us, then all three heads started to growl. Grover gulped.

"You understood him?" I whispered. Grover nodded, looking pale. "What did he say."

"Something I highly doubt would translate very well."

"Well f**k." I muttered. We paced up till we were just a few hundred feet away from the giant dog.

Never thought I'd be scared of a Maltese.

Now that we were closer, I could see things I didn't see before. Cerberus' eyes were all different colours: Red, Purple, Orange, Blue, Black, and White from left to right. It was unnerving. He was also only partially visible, a weird layer of black glow around his coat. His coat was midnight blue with small white dots twinkling on him, weaving in and out of curls. Blood caked around each mouth, which were watering at the sight of us.

"Three of us," I pierced my lips. "One for each mouth."

 _Don't be so pessimistic_ , the small voice in the back of my head chided. _Have a little faith_.

"Not helping, Percy." Grover whispered.

Annabeth took a deep breath, then dug into the bag.

"Cerberus just said 'You have 10 seconds to pray to a god of your choice'." Grover announced.

Cerberus started to get ready to pounce.

 _Have a little faith in the gods? I'm about to die._ I thought

 _I never said have faith in the gods_. _Have faith in Annabeth_. The voice replied back. _She's always wanted a puppy_.

Suddenly everything clicked.

"Five second…"

Annabeth pulled the huge red ball out of the bag. Then whistled sharply. Cerberus stopped growling and looked confused at the blonde.

"You want the ball?" Annabeth's voice changed, the same way one would change their voice to talk to a baby or a dog. "Sit!"

Cerberus stood up, tilting all of his heads.

Annabeth tapped her foot. "I said sit."

She waved the ball side to side.

Cerberus sat, squashing the ghouls underneath him. I cringed at the thought being being one of them.

"Good boy." She smiled. "Now lay down."

Cerberus whined.

"I said lay down."

He laid down, crushing even more souls. His faces were only a hundred feet away from us.

"Good boy!" Annabeth stated chirpily. She threw the ball at him and the middle head caught it, the other two heads snapping for it.

"Come on." She whispered. We sprinted as fast as we could towards the E-Z death, passing through ghouls and ghosts like they weren't even there. We zoomed past security, alarms blaring. Skeletons stirred to life, so shocked that 2 demigods and a satyr got pass Cerberus that they didn't even pursue us.

We had just entered a field of grey crops when we heard howling.

Annabeth skid to a stop and turned around, her eyes wide.

I turned back too. Cerberus was looking around from his guarding spot, the red ball in his left mouth. The left head was howling and there was a pitiful sadness in all of his eyes.

"Oh gods." Annabeth covered her mouth. There were tears in her eyes.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, we need to focus on the bolt for now." I whispered. "Maybe one day, when we aren't about to die, we can come back and play with him."

She looked at me, then nodded. "Let's to save the world." She didn't sound brave; her voice cracked from emotion, but we turned and ran after Grover anyways.


	23. Hades is hot, my life is not

Imagine being at a concert of your choice: Madona, Three Days Grace, Carrie Underwood, Mozart, whatever you like. Now imagine they set up the stage in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. It's in the dead of night, everything is dark. Something is wrong on stage - no lights, no music, no one is up there. The crowd waits for the show. A minute passes, then an hour, then the whole day. The sun never comes. Light pollution from a nearby city blots the stars from the sky. Your phone is dead, you didn't bring anything to sit down in. You didn't bring any food or water or Rubix cube to fidget with. You just stand there. Watching. Waiting. You start to forget who you are. What's your name? Where are you from? What do you even look like? Your identity washes away from you. You're alone, in the sea of people who are feeling the same way.

You are dead.

That is what it felt like being in the Fields of Asphodel felt like, and I was just running through it.

I started to hum some random song, it was probably 'Eye of the Tiger', but the song was gone with the wind.

My gut stirred, the howling of the punished coating me with shivers. My breath started to run short, my body dripping in sweat.

I had to stop about a mile in.

The ghost next to me stirred to life from her sitting position. I looked at her, meeting gold eyes.

"Well?" She asked me, her accent southern. "Shouldn't you keep running?"

I was confused.

"Aren't you dead?" I gasped, hunched over.

"Yes… I think." She frowned. "I don't know. All I know is that you're running and you'll lose your friends if you stop."

I inspected the ghost. She was my age, maybe a little younger, but she looked… alive. Her skin was a warm-toned brown, not _light brown_ like _roasted coffee bean brown_ , with long hazelwood hair to her mid back. It was coily, almost like an afro, and I suspected it would be past her feet if she'd straighten it. Her eyes were golden amber stones, which matched her pale yellow easter dress. She looked like she was from the early 1900's, judging by the way her dress was made. Her feet were bare, and her entire body shimmered with an iridescent glow, like she was some precious metal.

"How…" I breathed.

"Go!" She said, pointing off to where my friends were headed. "Go run, so do what you need to do. Don't stay here, don't stay still, you'll turn into one of these. You never saw me."

The girl dashed off into the crowd of grey and out of my sight.

I turned and continued running.

ȣ

I caught up to Annabeth and Grover not long after that. They had realised that I had stopped about a quarter of a mile away, waiting by some weeping ghost for me to catch up.

"Gods Percy, we were worried!" Annabeth exclaimed. "We thought a Kindly One took you."

"Well I can _kindly_ assure you that, no, they didn't."

Annabeth punched my arm.

The ghost wept louder, her hands over her face. She was on the floor, a diamond in her lap.

I glanced at her and, just for a moment, I saw the girl who told me to run. Only her hair was darker and in dreads, as well as a black dress instead of black. She was also much older.

Then she was grey again.

I blinked, then remembered what the girl said. 'You never saw me.'

 _You should listen to her_ , the small voice whispered.

 _Shut up, stop bugging me._

 _You know I'm right, Percy._

I ignored the voice and inspected my surroundings. In front of me, behind Annabeth and Grover, was a weird golden glow. My eyebrows knitted together and I stood on my tiptoes to make sure this wasn't some hallucination.

Just across the way was a villa of life. Well… death. Roses and Violets lined the stone pathways, hills upon hills of stone and wood houses like ancient greek housing dotted beyond my vision. Fountains of water flowed along marble rims. People were spinning and dancing, laughing as music filled the air.

"Elysium." I whispered. I knew immediately I wanted to be there when I died.

 _Focus, Percy._

I snapped out of the weird trance just in time to see the little flutter at Grover's heels.

The tiny wings flapped to life, pulling Grover forwards sharply.

"What the-" The satyr bleated.

"Grover what the heck? This isn't funny." Annabeth walked after him. Grover started doing a reverse moonwalk.

"Help! I can't stop." He yelped as he started going faster. "Maia! Maia!"

The shoes got faster. We started running after him.

Grover bleated in horror, falling backwards. The shoes tugged him along, then took a sharp turn towards a cave opening.

Something glowed red from inside of it and my stomach dropped.

"No… GROVER YOU NEED TO GET THOSE SHOES OFF RIGHT NOW."

His body took over. He started kicking wildly, the shoes stubbornly hanging on. The book bag on my back grew heavy.

I was going to collapse soon.

Think, Percy, think.

My eyes darted from side to side, analysing the entrance. I knew this place, it was the place in my dreams.

This was the entrance to the pit. And I had a good feeling that this pit was _The Pit_.

I found the strength to sprint to the cave and up a rock, catapulting on top of grover.

The pit only a few feet up the slope was glowing bright red in anticipation for something, probably fresh blood.

Then I pried the shoes off.

They flew over the ledge, just a half an inch away from pulling Grover in.

I started breathing heavy, like someone was starting to suck the air out of my lung.

"Get up and run away." I commanded. Grover scampered to his feet and we went tumbling down hill just as all the air around us got vacuumed in. Miraculously, we made it out alive.

I stumbled into Annabeth, who was at the entrance of the cave. We went sprawling against the stone ground.

"What the heck just happened?" Grover gasped.

I looked behind me, at the cave.

"The place from my dream. That was what I saw. That was…"

My voice died in my throat.

Tartarus.

Annabeth engulfed us in a huge.

"Oh my gods, I thought I was going to lose you."

I let her embrace me. Grover was smashed in between us, but we were all too tired to care.

We were just happy to be alive.

"We can't stay still for too long." I managed to peel Annabeth and Grover off of me. "We might turn into ghosts."

Annabeth nodded. "We need to go to Hades."

We took a few more deep breaths, then we stood up.

Conveniently in front of us was a path that lead straight to the black and bronze palace atop of a mountain-like rock.

"The farther away from this pit we get, the happier I will be." I said, then started marching up the path

ȣ

Turns out I wasn't as happier as I thought I'd be.

The moment I walked through the two opened gates at the midpoint of the mountain, we were confronted by three very unhappy hosts.

I nearly fell off the path when the three Kindly Ones swooped down and landed in front of us.

"What the fff…" I caught my language off of habit. The wrinkling hag in front, Mrs. Dodds, smiled.

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that." I grumbled. Grover was right next to me, his eye wide.

Alecto ignored me. They were all wrapped in yellowed bloodied bandages, like deadly mummies. Each one had their whips at their hips, but that was it. Alecto had a mace in her hand. The one to her left, probably Megaera, had a barbed wire wrapped staff. The one to Alecto's left, Tisiphone, held a shotgun instead.

Well bloody great.

"You are brave, coming down here."

"You're lousy, letting a son of Aphrodite kill you. Twice."

Alecto bared her fangs at me. I didn't even flinch.

"Hades will not be pleased to find you here." She hissed. "You might as well as let us take you to your torture."

I hummed. "Mmmm, sounds like a good offer but I'm going to have to pass. I need to see the Lord of the Underworld."

Tisiphone raised a flaky eyebrow. "Admirable, hero, but we can not let you."

Annabeth shifted back a little. "Percy-"

"No, we're going to Hades." I insisted. "I traveled across the entire country to talk to him."

"You blame him for thieving the bolt," Megaera replied. "He will not show mercy."

"I'll make him." I stared straight into Jealousy's eyes. I could see the amount of times I was jealous at someone - each time because of one simple thing.

They had fathers

I realised now that I had something better.

I had two moms. I was determined to keep them both.

The memoried burned away from her eyes and she scowled.

"Let. Us. Through. Now."

My voice turned deadly calm. I poured in my charmspeak. I needed it to work.

It did… sort of. Megaera and Tisiphone stepped off the path, flying off to do whatever they needed to do.

Alecto glared at me. "Out of all the demigods I have be assigned to, you are my least favourite."

"I'll see you one day." I said, keeping a steady voice. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But one this is for certain. When I die, I will die a hero, and it will be all thanks to you. Without you, I would never have known I was a demigod."

With that, I brushed past her and started up the stones to the palace. Alecto took off in a whoosh of wind, leaving us in the dust.

Grover scurried after me. "Percy, you just insulted a torturer."

"Yep."

"We're going to die." Annabeth added

"Not today." I said. The doors of the palace stood in front of us now. "We're going to live."

I threw them opened and walked straight into the throne room.

ȣ

Hades apparently had been waiting for us, because he was lounging on his throne, a bottle of nectar in his hand and a red cloak brooding his arms. He wore a black silk toga-like thing, his skin a rich dark chocolate tone. His eyes were normal human ones, brown irises staring at me with a hint of interest. His hair was long, thin strands like black corn silk, and probably would have gone down his back if he didn't have it up. A thin layer of black scruff graced his chin and cheeks. It was obvious he was a god, he was over 20 feet tall, but he looked so… human. And muscular too. Very nice body structure.

I almost dropped the bag on my back. I don't know if it was just my imagination, but the bag felt like 50 pounds had been added on. That was not normal.

"Very impressive, Perseus." The god mused, his deep voice encasing the room. "It only took you 9 days."

"Got stuck along the way." I mumbled, staring at the god. For some reason I felt… calm. My mind wandered, drifting into happier times.

Annabeth shook me out of the trance. I blinked for a moment, then realised that he said my full name and I hadn't gotten agitated.

"We've come for the bolt, Lord Hades." Annabeth took a brave step towards the throne. It was black leather studded with jewels from all types of colour spectrums.

Hades raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?"

Annabeth nodded. I shook my head at the same time. Grover just stood there, terrified at the difference between Annabeth and I.

"Well what is it then?" The gods mused. "Clearly you haven't discussed this, have you?"

Annabeth looked back at me "What?"

"I… I don't believe it was Hades who stole the bolt."

"Percy, we discussed this-"

"You said it yourself. The evidence didn't add up right."

Annabeth mouth hung open. She was speechless.

I turned to Hades. "Originally that was why I came here. But then, when I thought about it, there was no way it could have been you."

My shoulders were killing me now.

Hades sat up straighter and put his drink on this armrest. "You spent 9 days traveling for the bolt, but yet you still came here after you found it?"

 _Found it?_

 _What was he-_

My eyes widened. Sh*t sh*t sh*t.

I yanked the bag off my shoulders and opened it. A blue light was emitting from the inside.

Carefully, I grabbed the object and let the bag drop.

In my hands was a zigzaged cylinder of bronze capped with a 10 sided pyramid cone that glowed purple with electricity.

I almost dropped the most dangerous weapon in the world on my foot.

"How did that-" I remembered who I got the bag from.

Then I got mad.

The electricity sparked harmlessly on my skin.

I looked up at Hades "You knew?"

He frowned. "If you were referring to who stole the bolt, then no. However I recognise the energy my little brother's symbol of power anywhere."

He dusted his cloak flat on his shoulder. "But since you're here, I suppose you could be of some use."

He waved his hand and something blue glowed at his heels. A woman made of blue, frozen in terror.

My mom.

"The bolt was not the only thing stole. My helm has gone missing, the same day Zeus declared his bolt was stolen. This was, in no doubt, connected. Give me what you stole, and your mother will be free."

I stared at my mother, my eyes wide. I wanted nothing more than to run up and grabbed her.

A little black dove landed on a vase beside Hades, watching me.

Annabeth and Grover watched me.

"You thought I stole your helm, didn't you?" I whispered. "You allowed me to come here, you allowed everyone to believe you had no idea of my quest to come here…"

I glared at Hades and suddenly I didn't feel the same calmness.

"I didn't steal your helm. No one in their right minds would go straight to the man they stole from. But I'll get your helm back. Not because you said so, but because I made an oath."

I turned to the dove, pulling out the three pearls from my back pocket. I handed one Grover and another to Annabeth.

"You won't have to worry about watching for a broken Oath, Styx. I will get that helm and my mother will come home, I bind his words to your waters."

The dove cooed in response, causing Hades' eyes to flash red.

"You will _not_ get out of here."

"That's where you're wrong. A certain god is helping me, one you might believe to by my father."

I held the pearl out, then let it drop the the floor. Before Hades could do anything, I crushed it under my foot and a flash of pink light, I was engulfed in a glowing shell. The world grew a pearly white and I started to soar upwards.

Before I could see what Hades was going to do about it, the world turned opaque as I went straight through the ceiling.


	24. Ares be poppin a vein and an ankle

I did not appreciate Poseidon's sense of humour.

It's one thing to make a pun.

It's a whole other thing to lift me to the sea surface _on a f**king sea shell._

It was a good thing that no one saw me because the shore was nowhere to be found.

The shell evaporated into green seafoam, letting me slip into the cool waters of the Pacific. Annabeth and Grover floated to the surface not long after, their bubble of blue air popped.

' _What comes from the sea always returns to the sea.'_

"Good for nothing f**king immortals." I spatted up at the sky. The sun will still up, which gave me hope, but it was already starting to set. The bolt was no longer in my hands anymore, a polished oak wood twig bracelet in it's place. 'Property of Zeus' was engraved in gold on a blue lightning bolt charm. "Why can't you just sit on your f**kin' mountain, drink your f**king wine and f**king nectar, and stop f**king up everything."

Annabeth moved her hands in as figure 8 fashion, keeping afloat. "You shouldn't curse out the gods like that."

"It was them that got us in this situation!" I defended. "Now we're stuck 12 miles away from shore with no way to get back."

"How do you know it is 12 miles?" Annabeth retorted.

I frowned. _How did I know I was 12 miles away from shore?_

I shook my head, dismissing the thought. I'd figure that out later… hopefully

Something large brushed against my leg. I looked down and say the blacktip from earlier this morning.

"Can you… Can you get us back to shore please?"

The blacktip swam around me happily and his fin breached the surface.

"Grab on." I instructed. Grover and Annabeth grabbed his fin and I held onto their shirt as we sped back to shore. As we swam along, the sea form followed. I allowed the water to touch me, so no one questioned why I was dry.

When we got there, everything was a mess. We were back at Santa Monica, which was good, but that was about it.

The city had a black cloud above it, some buildings on fire. Citizens ran around, screaming bloody murder. Police and other officials were trying to blockade the beach.

And Ares was the reason why.

The god had torn through the city in anger, his whole body smoking. Black flumes curled from his eyes, which were white hot. He was glaring straight at me.

"You have the nerve to show up, kid." He growled. Anger rolled off of him like a tidal wave. "You should have died."

I fought back.

I pulled out my mother's scarf and tied my wet hair back, then grabbed Riptide. The blade extended in my hands, the shell engravement shimmering purple in the presence of the scarf.

"You took the bolt. Why?"

"I never took the bolt," Ares' veins on his neck started to bulge. I kept a calm, smooth voice.

"Who did you use, Ares? Which poor soul did you convince to do your bidding? Was it Clarisse?"

Ares gritted his teeth together. "I told you, punk, I didn't take the bolt. I merely ran into the boy who did."

"Lovely," I smiled. "Why didn't you return it."

"Because," Ares' voice grew sadistically gleeful and mad at the same time. "There wouldn't have been a little fight, now would there?"

"But Zeus is your dad." Annabeth's voice was desperate. Ares let out a laugh.

"Family fights are always the best. You see, the bolt was taken. Zeus blames Poseidon. At the same time, Hades notices his helm is missing and blames both of them. All I needed to do was pin all the blame on you and then a little slugfest starts up."

"That's horrible!"

"Why didn't you keep the bolt for yourself, then?"

Ares' eyes flickered for a moment.

"Why didn't I…" He went into a trance."

"Because you never made that by yourself?" I offered.

"N… Yes I did!" Ares shouted. "I made the plan. There were no dreams involved."

"Dreams?" I questioned innocently. "I never said anything about dreams."

Ares' ears turn red.

"Whatever. I can't let you leave this place alive."

"Give me the helm, Ares." I charmspoke. "I'm taking both the weapons and you're going to leave this alone."

"As if!" He spat. "You can not charmspeak an Olympian, Perseus Jackson."

"No," I admitted. "But I can still outwit one."

I held the sword up so the point was aimed at his temples. "I challenge you to a swordfight, oathed by the water of the Styx."

The little black dove was sitting on a bench. Watching. Waiting.

"The first person to draw blood wins. If I win, you surrender the helm and allow us to return both symbols of power to their rightful owners."

"And if I win?"

"I will willingly give you the bolt back, and both Annabeth and Grover will not interfere. You can not touch them, they can not touch you."

"Percy…" Grover warned..

"Sounds like a tough offer, punk. I'm gonna have to pass."

"What? Afraid to be beaten by some _petty son of Love_?" I raised an eyebrow. "Afraid you're too _weak_."

Ares did not take that lightly.

"How dare-"

"Agree to my terms, Ares." I commanded.

"Fine. I agree to the terms."

The dove seemed to smile.

 _You've been making too many oaths, Percy._

 _Shut up, weird voice._

Annabeth slipped something around my neck. Confused, I turned to look at her.

"My necklace. Let the power of Athena aid you. And, Percy… even strength has to bow to wisdom." Annabeth whispered. "Don't think harder, think smarter."

Grover hugged me. "I don't want you to die."

"I'm not going to die. Olympus needs me right now."

I shrugged him off of him, then gave him my shoes. He started to cry at that.

I walked up the shore a little, just to stand between Ares and the surf.

"Classic or Modern, punk?"

I didn't know what they meant, but I waved Riptide a little, hoping it might offer an answer.

He pierced his lips.

"Classic it is."

I watched a sword roughly 5 feet long grow into his hands. A wicked double edged stainless Celestial Bronze sword, to be exact.

I got into a ready stance, like Luke taught me, and waiting for the first attack.

Ares watched me with hungry eyes. "I'm a god. I have been fighting for eons, my strength is unlimited. I can not die. What do you have that I don't?"

"A will to live and a whole lot of ambition." I stated, then launched myself at him, blade at the ready.

He anticipated that and blocked my attack. Riptide stayed in my hands, luckily, but I was nearly sliced open.

I attacked again. He blocked and sliced. I blocked.

He sliced again. I blocked.

He sliced. I blocked.

Fires raged behind Ares, turning the LA sky even more orange than it would have been.

He sliced. I blocked.

Children screamed, women cried. People were calling for their loved ones.

He sliced. I blocked.

Police shouted for us to stop.

He sliced. I blocked.

His sword flickered to show a shotgun. Mine showed a tiny .22 mil.

He sliced. I blocked.

My feet started to hurt. My forehead grew warm. The bolt hummed against my wrist, almost angry like that it wasn't being used. 'No, I will fight this fight fairly'.

He sliced. I blocked.

It was a never ending cycle. I couldn't get an open shot… er, slice. I was too busy protecting myself.

I started to believe I was going to lose.

He started backing me up into the surf. I was desperately swinging my blade, Annabeth nearly crying out each time Ares came inches from my skin. I kept blocking.

My bare feet dipped into the cool water.

I remembered the water, the way it helped me.

I held back the tide with my mind. I rolled between Ares' legs, barely managing to come out nickless.

The god turned around and I swung, energy anew in my blood. A plan started to form in my mind.

A plan worthy of Athena.

He blocked. I swung again. He blocked.

My blade went flying to the side. Ares' smile grew vicious and he aimed for my neck.

With a yell, I let the tide go and lunged over him

Thousands of gallons of water flooded the beach side, knocking everyone thing down in it's path. Ares' blade went up and I grabbed it. My foot kicked the back of his head and he went down from the inertia.

I spun around in mid air. The blade shrunk into a dagger and I went down.

Metal met the flesh of something warm and gold liquid sprayed me in the face.

The sound that came after haunted me in dreams for ages after.

Ares let out a roar that sounded like every predator's voice combined into one single voice. Gold ichor was dripping on my hands. The dagger was gone.

I tucked into a side roll, then got up and ran for Riptide.

Annabeth tackled me, nearly sobbing. My sword had landed near her, and had, luckily, not hurt her.

"Oh my gods, you did it!" Grover bleated.

I turned to face Ares. He was struggling to get to his feet, gold ichor dripping into the sand.

"You." He spat. "How dare-"

"I expect you to rain true to our oath!" I shouted. Camera men had started filming our fight. I knew what they had scene, even if I saw if for a second.

"You let us go!" I announced. "You failed."

Ares' eyes grew red. Then his body started to glow.

I reacted on first instinct. "CLOSE YOUR EYES."

Everyone obeyed. I closed my eyes and a sonic wave of energy exploded around us.

When I opened my eyes, _Ares was gone_.

Something landed near us. I turned around to see Alecto, disguised as Mrs. Dodds, approaching us.

"You held to your end. I am surprised." She croaked. I looked at my hand, noticing the ski cap I had not known I was holding.

"I wasn't going to break it." I stated, then held the cap out. "I believe this is what you came here for."

Alecto gingerly took the fabric. It melted into a black and silver crown. "Your ambition will hurt you one day. You keep throwing oaths like that around, it might kill you."

"I'll take my chances."

Alecto looked at Grover. Then at Annabeth.

"You three don't have enough time to crawl back to Olympus."

"Not by land." I stated, then held my wrist up. "But I assume Zeus would ignore a little airplane trip if it meant his bolt would be safely returned."

She flicked her frail hand at the crowd of police. "Make up whatever story you want. All I say is that I had nothing to do to help."

"Do to help what?" I said innocently. "Goodbye, Mrs. Dodds."

The fury smiled cruelly, then evaporated in a burst of green flames. Then, she was gone too.

ȣ

According to the L. A. News, the destruction at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper was being pursued by police. Three vans were involved.

This crazy kidnapper (a. K. A. Ares) was the same man who had abducted me and two other adolescents in New York and brought us across country on a nine-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Percy Jackson _wasn't_ an international criminal after all. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus- "Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that. A concerned diner owner in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Then the crazy kidnapper hired two animal traffickers to help him shuffle 3 children to Las Vegas, in which we escaped for roughly 5 days (in order to be caught once more). Finally, brave Percy Jackson (I was beginning to like this kid) had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him on the beach. Police and the FBI had arrived just in time. But in a spectacular explosion (aka Ares revealing his true form), five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson and his two friends were safely in police custody.

The reporters fed us this whole story. We just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted (which wasn't hard), and played victimized kids for the cameras.

"All- All I want to do," I sniffled, rubbing my face with the blanket some little kid gave me, "Is to see my lovely stepdad, Gabe. Every time I came across a television, he would be there, like a saving angel…" I almost gagged on those words. "I knew I was going to be okay, that I was going to see him again. I can promise you that he is ever grateful. So much so that he'd love to give each and every person here a free item from his electronics department at the Bargain Mart he works at if you call this toll free number."

I gave them the number of the store he currently 'works' at. The media ate this up.

They loved it so much that the crowd around us started to raise money to get us three to New York. We raised so much that we could afford first class (thankfully).

However the FBI didn't want to let us go. A lady tried to get us to come with her for questioning, but I charmspoke us out of it and soon we were on a jet, homeset.

I found myself surprisingly comfortable, despite I put myself in the very domain Chiron advised I stay away from. And first class was basically empty, if you excluded me and Annabeth and Grover.

I almost fell asleep too.

Almost.

Both Annabeth and Grover had already went to bed, with the help of some charmspeak, but I couldn't catch any z's.

"You did well, little brother."

I turned to look at the seat opposing me, confused.

The lady with the pink eyes was wearing an airline uniform, her hair put up in a bun.

"Who are you?" I sat up.

"You will learn that, in time. But today is not that day." The lady stated firmly.

"How did you know that the Lotus was a time trap?"

Her face stayed in a neutral expression. "I know a lot, Percy. I know you will have only 30 minutes to get to Olympus and turn the bolt in before midnight hits the last parts of the country."

"Wait… It's the 22nd already?"

She nodded. "In New York, yes. However, Zeus never specified which timezone he was going to be using to dictate the deadline."

I smiled a little at that. "Thanks, for your help."

She raised an eyebrow. "My help has yet to truly begin. Sleep well, little brother. You have a lot to do when you wake up.

She got up, dusted the wrinkles off her skirt, and walked off into economy class.

My eyelids grew heavy and I slumped back in my seat, drifting off into sleep.


	25. At a moment's notice

When I woke again, a coral-haired woman in an airline uniform was gently informing me that we were about to touch down.

Annabeth's hair was a rats nest, Grover's little horns had put holes in the seat, but we all looked well rested.

"I can't believe it's almost 6 in the morning." Annabeth breathed. "We're so late."

"Not quite." I stated. Then I told them about the 'sister' who visited me last night.

Annabeth smiled. "Well, she's not wrong."

"We'll go up there with-"

"No." I broke Grover off from his sentence.

The two started to protest, but I held my hand up.

"I have to do this alone. You two need to get to camp and inform Chiron of everything. Just incase I don't come back down alive."

Annabeth nodded. "I understand. Let's hope you do come back, though. I have a feeling this wouldn't be our last time getting in trouble together."

We stayed silent as the plane landed. We stayed even more silent as we dodged the local media and crowds of bloggers looking to strike it rich on our story.

We hugged goodbye, and I set them off on a cab that would take them to Montauk. Then I turned and got in a cab, set on getting to the Empire State Building.

At first, I didn't recognise the cab driver. Then the guy opened the separator.

"Hey, kid. Heading home?"

I looked up at the rear view mirror and met the hazel eyes that belonged to a guy named Fred Jaigg.

"No, I'm actually going to Empire State."

Fred laughed a little. "Suddenly so high class?" He started down the airport road system. "Mom got a new job."

My heart dropped. "No… not really."

Fred stayed silent for a moment. "You know, you've been a little famous around here lately."

"The kidnapping? Yeah, I figured."

"Gabe's been lookin' for you too." Fred whistled. "He's been so p*ssed lately. Didn't help that the Bargain Mart fired him for the lil display you put up in L.A."

I frowned. "He portrayed me as a potential terrorist, what else was I supposed to do?"

"Don't worry, kid. I'd have done the same."

He took a turn.

I stayed silent, playing with the bracelet.

"Is mom home?"

Fred glanced back at me. "Yeah. She stopped by my place last night, bewildered. She were askin' for you. Claimed to not have remembered the last month or so. Why you askin?"

I looked up at him and noticed something I didn't before. A small tattoo on the back of his neck. A dove.

Fred was a buff dude. No buff dude I knew would have a dove tattoo.

Unless…

"I was just wondering. With all the crazy things happening right now."

Fred chuckled. "Must be crazy."

"Yeah, someone stole the bolt."

He nearly swerved off into a ditch.

"What the-"

"You're from Cabin 10, aren't you?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me, you nearly swerved off the road."

"There was a cat in the way." He defended.

"You're Aphrodite's son." I exclaimed.

Fred glared at me. "Percy, don't try to-"

"So am I."

He blinked. The blinked again, even more confused.

"You are?"

I nodded. "I got claimed a couple of weeks ago."

I launched into my story. Why not? Fred had been chauffeuring me around since I was a toddler. He's been mom's friend since they were 5 years old. I could trust him.

When I finished, we were pulling up right in front of the door to the Empire State.

"Well kid, looks like you only have about 15 minutes. You better get going. Tell the doorman you need to get to the 600th floor"

"I'll wait for you."

"You don't have to."

"You're family, Perce." Fred turned to look at me directly. "Family means nobody gets left behind."

I smiled. "You've been watching too much Disney."

"Go up there and stop the potential war." Fred urged.

I opened the car door and slipped out in the cool morning air of 5:45 am. Then went to the doorman.

"I need to get to the 600th floor."

He looked down at me. "No such thing, kid."

I glared at him. "I said, _I need to get to the 600th floor_."

His eyes glazed over and he pulled out a gold key. "Put this into the emergency stop, twist left, and make sure no one is in the elevator with you." He instructed.

I smiled and took the key, then ran to the elevators.

People were getting on just as I got there. I sprinted in and held the door open.

"Sorry, you're going to have to wait." I instructed. "Security protocol."

The business men grumbled angrily at me to shut up.

"Get out of the elevator." I commanded. They left and I let the door shut.

I placed the key in the emergency stop and twisted left. The metal panel waved in my vision to reveal a blue button labeled 'Olympus - 600th floor.'

I pressed it.

The elevator started upwards. My stomach rolled at the motion.

Some weird music was playing in the speakers, the kind that could make me fall back asleep.

I tapped my foot and counted upwards softly. A minute passed. Then 2.

When I got to the number 167, the elevator door opened and I stumbled out onto a bridge only made for one person.

"Sh*t." I cursed, then paced down the walkway without looking down. There was no ridge to stop me if I fell.

The bolt sparked with purple electricity, which was harmless against my skin. I vaguely wondered if the bolt was designed to protect whoever was in possession of it.

I didn't pay attention to Olympus, I was too busy sprinting up to the Acropolis at the very top. By my estimation, I have less than 10 minutes to get the bolt back.

A nymph squeaked as I flew past her. I shouted an apology, then told everyone to move.

They did, wondering why a demigod would be running up the streets of the eternal city.

I passed temples, bakeries, parks, concerts, fountains, all of the as gorgeous as imaginable and beyond.

With 2 minutes to spare, I crashed through the doors of the throne room and collapsed in front of a hearth.

Someone cleared their throat. "You're late."

I looked up from the beanbag by the fire, probably placed there for tired mortals like me.

There were twelve thrones as tall as the one in the Underworld, but each one was unique. But two were occupied - A solid block of Platinum with etches of spiderweb lightning flickering across it and a simple sea captain throne covered in black netting.

Both of them were gods, I have yet to meet a goddess in person yet, but one radiated pure power while the other one was weaponless.

I think you can guess who the weaponless one was.

Poseidon and Zeus looked down at me, the former's expression more calm than the latter's.

Zeus looked like the big daddy of all the baddies. Covered in a black beard and sleek black hair, his copper skin was barely visible. His eyes were bright blue, like contacts had been placed on his iris. Instead of the toga Hades had decided to appear in, Zeus wore a lawsuit suit, his dusty blue tie as starchy stiff as his white shirt and grey jacket.

Poseidon, on the other hand, looked like a Bahama's vacationer. His shirt was a button up covered in pictures of alcoholic drinks. His shorts were khaki, exposing hairy legs. Instead of the loafers Zeus had, Poseidon was wearing flip flops with tridents on the sides. He too had a black beard and black hair, but it looked like it went through a hurricane and he hadn't bothered to fix it. Green eyes that matched mine glittered with amazement at his brother.

"He was not late, dear brother. He was merely taking his time. After all, it's still the 21st in Hawaii."

Zeus grumbled something about the state I'd rather to repeat.

Then he glared at me, like I was doing something wrong by lying on a beanbag.

I sat up, still breathing heavily.

"Don't glare at me, I just ran 3 miles to get here. You're gonna have to wait."

Under normal circumstances, I assumed Zeus would have zapped me for the disrespect, but Poseidon stopped him.

"He got the bolt here on time, brother. Let him rest for a little."

"The least he could do is bow…. Are you positive he's not yours? He acts like you."

I pierced my lips and ignored him.

The gods waited patiently for a minute as I caught my breath. Then I stood up and paced over to the gods. I bowed before Zeus.

"That's better," The sky god grumbled.

I got up to bow to Poseidon, but he waved me off.

"Tell us your story."

I did. I told them everything. Every detail I had to give. From the day Alecto attacked to the moment I got on the elevator.

They listened to everything. I told them the dreams, the small feelings I had. The previous suspicions, the sass. The anger I had when people mistook me for Poseidon's son. The sass. Everything.

I pulled the bracelet off my wrist and held it out towards Zeus. He opened his palm and the wood flew, growing into the bolt the closer it got. Pretty soon it was a staff as long as the throne made of pure purple lightning.

"I sense you are telling the truth, boy." Zeus kept his gaze on me. "But if Ares was behind this-"

"He wasn't." I interrupted, causing the bolt to flare red. "He had a moment of hesitation. Someone else was behind it. Something in that pit."

Poseidon kept his eyes on Zeus, his hand on his trident that he summoned. His symbol of power, in my opinion, was better and prettier. It was a sleek coppery green metal trident with a pearl where the middle spear met the other two.

"Something older than the gods." I said. "The Crooked One."

Zeus looked down at me with a sneer hinting on his lips. "We will speak no more of this."

Poseidon went to shoot down his brother's statement, but decided against it. Zeus stood up, straightening his jacket.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some important matters to attend to."

In a flash of lightning, he was gone.

Tired, I turned to leave.

Someone grabbed my shoulder.

"Percy?" Poseidon said. I turned around to found the god had shrank to normal size. He looked more like me than he did a god - Polynesian features, bright sweet green eyes, black wavy hair. "Let me escort you down to the mortal world."

I almost told him I could do it by myself, but I remembered something from ages ago.

The memory at Cabin 3.

The blood of two of us.

Also, I had no idea where I was supposed to go because I wasn't paying attention. Kinda was in a hurry.

I nodded and we walked out of the throne room together.

"I suppose your anger towards me is just," He said, using his trident as a walking stick.

"Maybe a little." I admitted. "I just didn't understand why they thought that."

Poseidon looked at me. "Well they are half true."

I stopped in my tracks. "What?"

Poseidon stopped too. "You aren't my son, not directly. Your great great grandmother was a demigod, a daughter of mine. The last of my demigod children."

The information took a moment to sink in.

"You're my missing ancestor?"

The sea god nodded. "You're the first male heir to that line."

My mouth hung open. "That… actually makes a lot more sense."

He chuckled. "Your mother knew about her heritage. Your grandmother knew too. So did your great grandmother…"

"I think I get it."

He smiled, looking human. "Your grandmother is still alive to. She told me to say hi if I ever met you."

"Grandma… You mean… the one they never found?"

"She almost died but Rhode found her and brought her to my palace in the Atlantic. She didn't want to leave Sally but…"

"She had to." He nodded at my response.

"Sally never went to camp, even though I advised her too. She caught the attention of my… aunt. Your mother."

I cringed at the thought. "This is a little…"

"Messy for a family set up?" Poseidon offered. I nodded. "Don't worry, gods don't have DNA. At least, not completely. When Ichor mixes with mortal, human, blood, the demigod inherent part of the god. You would never be able to date your godly-side siblings because it would be like dating your mortal siblings."

I gagged. "Okay, enough."

We started walking again.

"So my powers. The ones with the water… That wasn't the Naiads and Nereids helping me?"

"Sort of. They can resist, but you've got the blood of two gods, both with ties to the sea."

"You, because it's your domain, and mum… She was born out of seafoam."

His eyes glittered.

"Very funny trick with the pearls. Highly appreciated." I glanced slightly at him, but there was a smile on my face.

"I pride myself on that moment." He admitted. "Might have gotten a picture."

"Don't ever let my sisters see it."

He held his hands up. "Never would I ever."

We passed by a concert being held by 9 very beautiful women. The music stopped and everyone watched us pass by. I heard someone say 'Hail the great son of Love'.

When we turned the corner, the music started again. I felt immediately self conscious.

"Don't worry, they do that everytime someone walks past with a god," Poseidon assured me. "I think I saw Euterpe checking you out."

My ears turned red. "Those were the Nine Muses?"

He nodded. "They do concerts all the time. Maybe one day you'll get to see one, they really like Aphrodite's children."

We continued through the city.

Pretty soon, we were back at the one person bridge. 20 feet away from me was the golden elevator that will take me back home.

"You have been very brave, Percy. You have cleared my name, with the help of others. I know it is unjust to ask for more, but do two things for me when you get back down there."

Poseidon pulled a blue shell necklace and a silver key from his shirt pocket.

"Give this to your mother," He handed me the necklace. "She'll know who it's from."

"And the key?" I asked. He smiled.

"I believe you have a connection to my cabin. If you ever get tired of staying in Cabin 10, you can always stay in cabin 3."

My heart started racing. "Really?"

He nodded. "This is the sky to the underwater hotel… what's left of it anyways. Show this to Chiron, and he shouldn't have a problem with you staying there."

He handed the key to me and I started towards the elevator.

Then I stopped.

"The Crooked One." I said. "You know who that is, don't you."

Poseidon's face turned grim. "Zeus said-"

"I know what he said… But… I just need to know." I said. "Is… It's my uncle, isn't it?"

Poseidon stood in silence for a moment, then nodded. "I can't tell you anymore, and I expect you to do the same."

"But-"

"Zeus has his reasons. We must hope that this information you brought us stays secret, at least until we find out more information. His uprising would cause more chaos than we need right now. Keep this a secret, Perseus."

With that, the god waved his hand and evaporated into mist.

I turned back and walked to the elevator, which was open and ready to take me home.


	26. Hakuna Mom-tata

Fred was in the lobby, reading a magazine. The doorman scowled at me, having snapped out of his daze, but said nothing to me.

"How'd it go, kid?" He looked up at me and raised a sandy blonde eyebrow.

"Could you take me home?" I whispered. "I'll tell you about it on the way there."

And I did. We got stuck in the gridlock traffic, but I didn't complain. I was too busy telling him about Olympus.

Fred, as it turns out, was a great listener. Maybe it was because he just found out we were siblings with the same mom, godly speaking, or just because he's been there for me my entire life.

When I was done, he stayed silent.

"When I was at camp, I use to sneak into the Hermes cabin. I only stayed there for about a month, but it always felt more like a home than Cabin 10 did." He admitted. "I rarely went there for the full summer, which is the case for most of our siblings. We just aren't as powerful as the others."

He didn't sound mad about it. "In fact, most of us can use technology. Monsters don't busy themselves with Aphrodite's children. We're immune to minor amounts of charm magic, which a lot of monsters use to lure their prey in."

"Maybe that's why the Lotus Casino took a little bit to affect me. Annabeth was willing to just accept the keycards and go."

"Exactly. But you said Poseidon is your ancestor. I've never seen Sally at camp."

"He said she never went to camp. She knew about it, she hinted about it at Montauk, but maybe not growing up."

"Maybe. I'll have to ask her." Fred made a turn and stopped again. "And hopefully she's still… okay."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Fred didn't say anything.

"Fred…"

He frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Fred, _tell me what you mean_."

"Gabe's…. Been… abusive." He managed, obviously not wanting to tell me.

I went silent.

"Percy, I promised your mom-"

" _Don't say another word_." I whispered, then closed the glass slider and leaned back against my seat. Fred looked at me through his rear view mirror, but the charmspeak took his voice away.

We sat in horn filled silence for the rest of the ride. When he dropped me off at the road, I muttered a thank you and got out. Before I could pay, he drove off, leaving me alone.

I looked up the street, at the house. A few weeks ago I was standing in the same spot, with Grover and Annabeth by my side.

Now it was just me, my ax, my sword, and my voice.

I wondered what Gabe would see my ax as.

I took a deep breath in.

 _You can do this Percy._

 _Thanks, sister._

I strided down the side of the street and headed straight for the apartment door.

ȣ

Mom opened the door before I even knocked and engulfed me in a hug.

"Oh my goodness, you're alright."

I hugged her right back. She still smelled like salted candy.

"I'm fine mom." I breathed. "I'm fine."

She pulled back and cupped my face in her hands. "What happened? After…"

"I know mom." I said, then frowned. "Well, I know my other one."

"You were claimed." She whispered. "Oh gods, I wanted to be there to see. Did she do the blessing?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, she did."

"Please tell me someone got a picture."

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay. Come in, sweetheart. You can tell me what-"

There was a crash from inside and she turned around, ushering me inside.

"Mom."

"You should go wait in your room, Percy. He won't go in there."

"Mom, I know about the abuse."

She pierced her lips. "Did your mom tell you?"

"No, Fred did… He's my… brother."

Her eyebrows went up a little. "Oh. Well, please just go to your room. At least for now."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the small voice of my mysterious sister stopped me.

 _She's immune to charmspeak. That's what made her so special to mom. Besides, you should listen to her more often._

I sighed. "Fine."

I sulked back to my room, which was the same as I left it.

Almost.

There was a box on my pillow with a little pink handwritten note taped on it. Cautiously, I tiptoed towards it and picked the note up.

 _You are very ambitious, you remind me of myself sometimes. I decided to regift this for you, might come in handy very soon._

 _~Aphrodite_

 _P.S. You caused a lot of drama on Olympus. I'm so proud!_

I looked back at the box. Someone had quickly scribbled something on it. It took me a moment to read it.

 _To: Olympus, 600th Floor, Empire State Building, New York_

 _From: Keep reading_

 _Personal Message (Optional): A small token of complete gratitude from one soul to a group of gods. Hope you enjoy._

 _With Best Wishes,_

 _Perseus James Jackson, son of_ _ **APHRODITE**_

 _ **RETURN TO SENDER**_

I dropped the note in shock.

"She… She…"

My cheeks grew red and my stomach churned.

"Ew ew ew ew." I whispered.

Mom knocked on my door. "Percy, it's safe to come out now."

I stayed silent, staring at the box.

"Percy?"

Mom opened the door.

"Percy is everything okay?"

I looked up at her, eyes wide.

"What's that?" She walked over to inspect the box. She read the letter, then looked back up at me. "Percy?"

"It's Medusa's head." I whispered. "I sent it to Olympus."

She inspected my look, then put her hands on her hips.

"You're just like your mother."

I didn't know whether or not she was meaning that as a compliment or an insult.

"I am proud of you, though."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"You're going back to camp, aren't you?"

I opened my mouth, but the words were delayed.

"Yeah, I am. Poseidon wants me to stay in Cabin 3… He told me to give you this, too."

I fished the blue shell necklace out of my front pocket and handed them to her. Her eyes widened and she took it from me, gently weighing it.

"This was my mom's…" She whispered.

"He said grandma was alive." I said. "Did you know?"

"No."

There was an uncomfortable silence, which was only broken at the image of a man barreling into the door.

On instinct, I grabbed the ax and held it at the ready.

Gabe caught sight of me.

"You." He snarled and jabbed a sausage finger at me.

I glared at Gabe.

"You have some nerve coming back here."

He tried to move forward, but I held the ax a little higher. He eyed it, like he was trying to decide what it was.

"I wouldn't come any closer." I warned, moving to stand in front of Mom.

Gabe's eyes narrowed. "You might have been able to get away from that kidnapper, but you won't get away from me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that some _threat, Gabriel?_ "

"Percy, please." Mom whispered. "We were just leaving, I found another school-"

"F**k the schools, he's a terrorist-"

"Am not!"

"A thief, and a potential murderer. I'm calling to police."

"Gabe, please." Mom went over to him. "Just give him-"

It happened before I could blink. Gabe's hand went up and met the flesh on my mother's cheek.

I saw red and the ax left my finger tips. The sharp edge sliced through his stomach and planted itself deep within the walls.

Gabe hadn't registered the blow, confusion written momentarily on his face.

My heart sank down to my feet and I remembered something.

 _"She married Fugliano to mask my scent?"_

 _Grover's left eyebrow shot upward. "Fugliano?"_

 _"Don't question it."_

 _Annabeth was stifling her laughter off to my right, snorting into her hand._

 _"Okay, I won't. But yes, she married him because he smelled so_ _ **human**_ _that he could cover the scent of any demigod."_

By the worst, loosest definition out there, Gabe was human. He was 100% mortal. Celestial Bronze didn't work on humans.

"What did you do?" He glared at me.

"Nothing of concerning to you. I'm leaving, you won't have to worry about me anymore."

Mom's eyes turned to me, wide and icy. My heart broke a million times over, but Gabe bought it.

"You have 5 minutes, Pretty Boy." He spat, then waddled off to somewhere that wasn't here.

"Percy you don't have to-"

"I've got to go to camp anyways, Grover and my friend Annabeth are waiting." I stared at the ax in the wall. "Chiron'd like my side of the story too."

Mom stared at me, silent as a rock. Then she carefully took the ax out of the wall.

"Did Chiron give you this?"

"...No."

"Then who gave it to you?"

"... I kinda… stole it?"

Mom pierced her lips.

"There was this Water Bed Palace and I kinda decapitated the owner."

"No more ax for you." She held her hand out. Reluctantly, I unslung the holder from my waist and handed it to mom.

She took it. "You nearly killed someone, Percy. What would you have done if he died?"

"Burn his body, take all his money, and live a happier life." I admitted.

Her mouth opened a little. "Percy!"

"Okay, I won't burn his body. I'd throw it into the East River. No one would ever find him there… Don't look at me like that, he deserves it!"

"No one ever deserves an ax in the gut!"

"He's abusive. He convinced the entirety of the media that I was some felon terrorist wannabe. His drinking problem is considered more than a problem, I've got a stack of magazines in the corner of my room that even my _sisters_ won't go near. He might be human, but he is not humane. He's a mortal monster, mom."

I looked at the package on my bed.

" _A spoil of war, Dove Boy. Medusa's head, with stone turning abilities and all."_

A month ago, I would have hesitated. A month ago, I was just a boy who was trying to pass school, trying to get a job to provide extra money. A month ago I could never have the courage or strength to do what I wanted to do now.

But right now.

I had everything I needed.

I didn't hesitate.

"I can do it, mom." I stated. "I can kill Gabe, get him out of our lives."

"Percy, this is not your fight to pick." She stated firmly.

"He made it my fight when he hit you."

"Perseus James Jackson, I am putting my foot down on this. You can not kill Gabe."

Just your typical parent scolding son conversation.

Nothing special to see here.

"Fine. But I'm leaving Medusa here." I watched mom. "If he ever, _ever_ , places a hand no you like that again, promise you'll use it."

"Per-"

" _Promise_."

She sighed. "You do not take obedience well. I suppose you get that from both me and your mom. I promise."

"On the Styx?"

The little black dove fluttered onto the window sill, recognising her name. Mom looked at the sill, understanding etching into her face.

"You've attracted her attention. That's never good."

"I haven't broken a promise. I'm safe."

Mom sighed. "I swear on the Styx that I'll use Medusa's head, but only when _I_ deem it has gone too far."

I frowned. "... Fine. Let's get going to camp, before Gabe realises it's been over five minutes."

Together we walked out of my now old bedroom. Gabe was on the couch, glaring at me.

"Begone, fa**ot."

I stiffened at the term, but I dared not look back.

If I did, I would have told him to eat all his cigars and to snap his own neck.

We made it out of the house, where Fred had decided to pull up in front of. He was getting out of the taxi just as I was storming down the steps.

"Kid-"

" _My name is Percy,_ " I snapped at my much much older brother. " _You will refer to me by my name_."

"Don't you dare try to charmspeak-"

"Boys, stop it." Mom demanded. "Fred, do you know the way to camp?"

"Of course I do," he answered automatically, then scowled. "Why?"

"I'm going back to camp."

"You're _what_?" He snapped

" _Don't speak to me in that tone of voice_!" I commanded.

"Perseus!" Mom cried out. "Stop it, both of you, _now_."

The words cut through the already muggy morning air and I closed my mouth, slipping into the back of the cab. I busied myself with Riptide, twirling it between my fingers.

Mom slipped into the seat next to me, and the next thing I knew, we were back on the road.

The ride was silent, only my thoughts to occupy me. What was I going to tell Annabeth and Grover? What about Chiron? Would Mom or Fred come into camp? If so, what do I tell everyone else? That my mom's a descendant of Poseidon who was friends with her son's brother before she even met mine and his mom?

My head was throbbing from all the possibilities when we pulled up at thalia's tree. There, Annabeth and Grover were curled up at the edge of the magical border.

Waiting for me.

I got out of the car, spread my arms out, and announced in the loudest positive voice I had:

"GUESS WHO'S ALIVE!"


	27. Luke goes wax-o

Annabeth and Grover were more than happy to see me, and instantly engulfed me in a hug.

"Oh my gods, you actually did it!" Annabeth cheered. "We were so worried."

"We haven't even gone into camp yet, we wanted to wait for you." Grover added, a tear twinkling in the corner of his eye. Annabeth caught sight of the other 2 people behind me.

"Uh… Percy?"

I turned around. "Annabeth, Grover, this is Fred Jaigg and my mom, Sally."

Grover sniffed the air.

"Fred's my brother." I informed him, and this seemed to make him relax a little. "And Mom… is a descendant of Poseidon."

Annabeth's mouth went slack. "Oh gods, really? I didn't know demigods could… have… I…"

Mom smiled thinly. "It's very much possible, dear." She assured Annabeth. The she turned to look at Grover. "It's nice to see you again."

Grover nodded at her in acknowledgement. "Why don't you two come into cam-"

"No," both mom and Fred spoke at the same time. They looked at each other and shared the same look of understanding.

"Please?" I asked. Mom shook her head.

"I have work in a couple of hours and Fred has already spent too much time driving without pay," Mom sighed. "We need to get back to the mortal world. You three… have fun at camp."

She dusted off her shirt and brought me in for a hug. "I love you, Percy."

I blushed a little. "I love you, too." I whispered back.

We waved them off, then Annabeth turned to me.

"You have a zit." She pointed out. Shocked, I reached up and touched my forehead. Sure enough, a small bump graced my fingers and I let out a cry of relief.

"Finally!"

Grover laughed. "Okay you too, let's get back to camp.

ȣ

We were the first demigods to come back alive from our quest since Luke, so there was a huge celebration.

A buffet fit for a queendom, demigods indulged in our success. All day, activities were dismissed and everyone partied. As night neared, I watched from on top of Half Blood Hill while everyone had a good time.

"You did good, Percy."

I looked up from my seat in the grass, up at the man in the wheelchair. Chiron had a full on scruff now, probably relieved to not have to be a teacher.

"I guess." I shrugged, picking at the grass. "I don't really know, though."

He wheeled up next to me and faced the pavilion, where everyone was having a good time.

"Grover mentioned your mother is a legacy." He said after a while.

"A legendary?"

"Legacy," Chiron corrected me. "She's a descendant."

I nodded, looking back out at the crowd. "Poseidon's."

Chiron was silent for a moment. "I did not know this. She never came to camp."

"I don't even think she _likes_ camp." I grumbled.

Chiron sighed. "I don't think that is the case, she did let you come."

"She also didn't look happy about it." I looked back at him. "Like she knew something that we didn't know."

The old centaur frowned. "I don't know what that could be-"

"My point exactly."

"- but I can assure you, it's safer that you're here." Chiron finished. "You should get back to your cabin."

I cleared my throat. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that…"

He raised an eyebrow and I took out the silver key.

"Poseidon said I could stay in his cabin… I'd like to be cabin counselor for Cabin 3."

He was silent for a moment.

"He said you shouldn't have a problem with it." I pushed. "Can I?"

He watched me with century old eyes. "You sure Percy? Being alone in a cabin-"

"Would be good for me," I insisted. "I can't handle Cabin 10, _I need somewhere else to live_."

He pondered my reason.

"I suppose you can. Now hurry along, the shroud burning will be soon."

I got up and started downhill, set on a new cabin to live in.

ȣ

Annabeth's shroud was the first to be burned.

An elegant grey silk with a realistic owl painted on it, olive branches framing the fabric. I told her it was a shame it had to be burned, it was truly beautiful, but Annabeth informed me that she would have been buried in it.

'I'd weep then,' I told her, 'Probably because it's beautiful. I'll just go charmspeak some underworldly being to bring you back.'

She punched me in the arm, but she smiled at this.

Grover was next. His shroud was made of the leaves of some dryad's trees, a couple of nymphs that were his friends watched it burn, both happy and sad - happy that he was alive, sad that the plants were burning.

I was last. My siblings made mine, which was standard protocol, so it was a rose gold rose on a pink flag.

I was happy to watch it burn.

We danced and sang through the night, the camp fire a raging white and burning 20 feet high. Even the Ares cabin had a good time, though someone let leak that I fought their father and won. Clarisse pardoned her behaviour and vendetta long enough to congratulate me on retrieving the bolt.

That next morning, we were instructed to take the day off so we could rest up.

I lied on my new bunk in Cabin 3, happy to relax with no deadline breathing down my back.

Something warm buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. The silver key was glowing gold, a beacon in the dark air.

" _This is the key to the underwater hotel… what's left of it anyways."_

I climbed out of bed and padded across the acrylic floor. A padlock glowed from under a different bunk. I slid under and pushed the key into the slot.

The padlock clicked open softly and the door swung down, showing a ladder. Silently, I slipped down into the darkness of the tank below me.

A ladder led me down the the ruins of the mini city, 80 or so feet below the cabin. There were cave pockets all around me, ones I couldn't see from above. A plaque that read 'Water Hotel - Location 17' right above a pirate-ship like wheel on the wall.

Curious, I started to turn the wheel. Part of the stone wall inside of the largest cave opened and water poured in.

I had a moment's notice before I was hit with a wall of water. Thousands of gallons of saltwater filled the stoney hotel, washing away the debris and cleaning the walls of dust. Where I stood, green and blue light branched out and lit up each cave.

"Woah." I whispered, watching the miracle around me. The city started to glow a soft white, then a sonic-wave like explosion of light rippled through the cave and out of the opening.

Then the lights dimmed. I took a step forward and nearly collapsed. I hadn't realised how tired I was. Slowly, I swam to the opening of the tank and crawled out. I looked down, only to notice the floor had turned into an opaque black, probably for privacy reasons.

I didn't wonder about it. I just went back to my new bed, curled up, and passed out

ȣ

Over the next few weeks, I noticed the changes.

Campers started leaving. First was a boy named Ethan, who had been claimed by Nemesis. A week later, another camper left. Then it almost became daily. A great portion of Cabin 11's residents, 15 or so people, had disappeared over the months of July and August.

Jasible was among them. She came to me the day before, on my birthday, and told me she had been claimed by someone who didn't have a cabin - Nemesis. Then she left the next day without another word.

The counselor meetings became more frequent. Daisha announced that she was admitted into a fashion program in L.A. and was leaving on the 21st of August. Silena Beauregard replaced her, a girl only a year older than I but with as much experience as Luke and Annabeth. She was nice, she didn't nag me on my hair or having a zit, but we hadn't had time to talk with the campers disappearing.

Drew had her theories, but no one could figure it out. The demigods were just… gone. Off the grid, the godly one.

Luke continued his one on one training with me. He pushed me harder. He made me skip certain activities - canoeing, wood chopping, kitchen prep, etc. - so he could critique my swordsmanship.

It helped that I wasn't a babbling idiot anymore. He still looked hot, but I had also seemed to get a grip on my 'emotions'.

For capture the flag, I was almost always absent. I would be so tired from the hours upon hours of sword practice with Luke that I'd hit the bed and not get up until 10 the next day. Then I'd go back to training.

The only good thing that had happened was the neatly folded newspaper on the doorstep, which had a first page article about a woman who made a statue in honour of her husband that had went missing on July 6th. The statue was later sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a grand total of 1.5 million dollars, taxes included. Someone had highlighted the name of the statue maker - Sally Jackson - and the article piece:

… _Sally Jackson, though quite skilled in the art of statue making, told New York Times that she would retire the art and use her new found money to go to university and hopefully get her very own book published..._

Life wasn't perfect, but it was smooth and steady.

It all changed the second to last day of camp.

Luke and I had just gotten out of the mandatory meeting on 'Make sure your cabin's occupants are ready to leave by 3 tommorow or had signed in saying they are staying for the rest of the year at the same time' information. He pulled me back to the training grounds and pulled something from behind one of the boulders.

"It that coke?" I almost dropped my sword. Luke laughed a little at my expression.

"Yep."

"But I thought Chiron didn't let mortal beverages on camp ground?" I questioned. "Oh wait… Hermes thing right?"

"Bingo," Luke tilted a glass bottle towards me. I took it, popping the lid off with my teeth.

"You'll break your teeth like that."

"Does it look like I care?" I smirked, then took a sip. "Is this your way of sidetracking me so I'm distracted later?"

Luke shook his head. "Not today. I was actually thinking about skipping practice and going into the woods for a little.

Scratch what I said about being over Luke. My heart skipped a beat and almost jumped to the left side of my chest. "Are you sure? I mean…"

"Awh, come on, Perce. Just a little break?"

My will gave way. Camp had Coke, but it was never the same unless it came straight from the bottle warm. "Okay, I guess so."

Luke picked up a sword that was laying on the ground. I hadn't noticed it before, mostly because it wasn't the sword he usually used.

This one was the same length and style, but that was about it. Instead of solid bronze, the blade had been sliced down the middle and half replaced with the cool steel of a typical mortal blade. A thin sliver of wood less than a millimeter thick had been slipped between the Celestial Bronze and steel.

"New blade?" I asked wearily. Luke looked at the sword and slipped it in a loop on his jeans.

"Yeah. One of a kind, made to hurt both mortal and god."

My stomach fluttered, uneasy at those words. Luke picked the six pack of glass bottles, which actually only had four now, and we started into the woods.

Not long after, we arrived at a familiar spot.

"This is where I was claimed." I recalled. "After that hellhound."

Luke sat down on a rock the size of a cough. "Thought you'd like to come back here."

I wrinkled my nose. "Not really, I left glowing pink."

I sat down next to him, watching the lazy waters of the river and drinking Coke.

After a while, Luke spoke up. "You miss being on that quest, don't you?"

I looked at him, confused. "What?"

He looked at me, expecting an answer.

I sighed. "Maybe a little. Did you?"

His face grew a little darker. For a moment, he looked old, more tired. His scar grew deeper, his hair grey in the sunlight.

"I've lived at Half-Blood Hill year-round since I was fourteen, " Luke looked at something in the distance. "Ever since Thalia ... Well, you know. I trained, and trained, and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like, 'Okay, ride's over. Have a nice life. '"

He took his now empty glass of Coke and threw into the creek, which really shocked me. One of the first things you learn at Camp Half-Blood is: Don't litter. You'll hear from the nymphs and the naiads. They'll get even. You'll crawl into bed one night and find your sheets filled with centipedes and mud.

"I'm not going to end up like some dusty trophy, sitting with the Oracle all day."

"You make it sound like you're leaving." I watched the glass he threw, weary.

Luke scuffed. "I am leaving."

Something red flared to life just off to my right. A scorpion the size of a softball crawled out of a flame.

Instinctively, I went to grab Riptide. Luke tsked.

"I wouldn't if I were you." He warned. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. You'd be dead in 60 seconds."

I sat down, suddenly terrified. I didn't understand what was going on.

Then it hit me.

'You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend'.

"You…" I turned to Luke, wide eyed.

He stood up and calmly dusted off his jeans. The scorpion ignored his, beady eyes watching my every move. It didn't move, but it was close enough that I would die if I did.

"I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy, " Luke said. "Didn't you feel it? The darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Did you not realize how useless it all is? All the heroics? Being pawns of the gods? They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half- bloods. "

"This is our parents you're talking about, Luke," I warned. He let out a laugh.

"Is that supposed to make me love them?" He looked down at me, a glint of darkness in his eyes. "This Western Civilization is a disease, a weed that needs to be pulled from the garden. It's killing the world with its impurities. The only way to stop it is to burn it all to the ground, to start again with something more honest."

" _You're just as crazy as Ares_." I said through gritted teeth. Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Ares was weak. He never realised the true master he was serving. I would explain everything, really I would, but I'm afraid you won't be alive long enough to know."

The scorpion's pincers started clicking together. I needed more time.

"Kronos," I said. "You mean Kronos."

Luke's face turned into shock, then deadly. "I'd be more careful with names if I were you."

"Kronos convinced you to steal the bolt," I continued. "He came to you in your dreams."

"He came to you too," Luke glared. "You should have listened."

" _He's brainwashing you, Luke_."

He pointed to his ears. "Wax. Charmspeak is useless against wax, Percy. Your powers don't work on me."

I flinched, suddenly feeling useless.

"Besides, he's not brainwashing me. He merely showed me the truth. That quest? The one from two years ago? It was from my dad. Some stupid hand-me-down quest that Hercules did - Pick a golden apple from Hera's sacred tree in the Garden of Hesperides. I trained so hard, for so long, only to fail because of some stupid dragon. I came back home and that was it. Dad didn't care about me, I failed. I wanted to tear down Olympus _brick by brick_ , but then Kronos spoke to me. He told me to wait. He whispered plans, good ones, for something no hero would dare dream of. During the winter solstice, I stole Annabeth's cap and stole both the Masterbolt and the Helm of Darkness right under their noses. It was so easy, too. Like they were begging to be stolen."

"That's f**ked up."

Luke paused.

"Don't look at me like that, I can curse if I want to."

He pierced his lips, but continued anyways.

"I made it to New Jersey by the time Zeus noticed. Then he got smart - he sent gods after me. Athena, Artemis, Apollo, my own father. But out of all of them, it was Ares who found me. I got foolish, I thought I could beat him. He disarmed me, took the elements of power, and threatened to turn me in. Then Kronos helped me. I told him of the war that could happen if he didn't give them the bolt, if he let me go. Like I said, he is weak. He fell in _love_ with the idea. He passed the bolt on to you, like Kronos told him to, but you weren't wearing the shoes."

Shoes… "Those Nikes you gave us? You cursed them?"

"And they would have worked too. You would have been dragged down to Tartarus with the bolt and died, painless and peacefully. But no. You gave them to that cursed satyr. Grover messes everything up."

My hands curled into fists. "You're being used, Luke."

"You're the one being used," He retorted. "Some pawn to the gods, doing their bidding, saves their sorry asses."

"Is this how you repay her?" I changed the tides.

This knocked Luke down a little. "What?"

" _Is this how you repay Thalia?_ Tearing down Olympus, summoning monsters into the border _she_ made? Bribing gods?"

"The gods did this to her!" Luke nearly roared, anger blazing in his eyes. "The gods killed her. The gods made her suffer. She could have lived a better life."

"What life? The one you've burned?" I knew my charmspeak wouldn't work, but I hoped my voice carried over to someone lucky enough to be nearby. "Luke-"

"Enough." He demanded. He took a deep breath. "You won't live long enough to see the new Golden Age. Only the strongest will survive, Percy. You won't be one of them."

He pulled his new sword from his belt and slashed up in an arch, then disappeared.

The scorpion lunged. I yelped and swatted it from the air. I pulled Riptide from my pocket, pushed the cap off with my thumb, and slashed it as it went to make another jump.

Pain burned like molten lead on my left palm. I looked down at my hand, which was now a swollen red and oozed greenish-yellowish white pus. The venom burned up my arm.

The damned thing had gotten me after all.

I looked up, starting to sweat. Luke said I had only 60 seconds to live. It took a good three minutes to get to camp, and that's in a full sprint. Something told me that the water wouldn't help, the venom would make it to my heart much too fast. I did the only thing I could think of.

I poured my charmspeak into my voice, as much of it as I could muster.

"Help!"

Girls melted from the trees, hearing my call. Naiads pooled out of the stream, gasping in horror as I fell sideways. My body burned like it was on fire. I couldn't move anymore.

Gentle hands picked me up and water flooded around me. My internal clock told me I only had 30 seconds left.

I heard shouting. Nymphs yelled for help, dashing through the commons area, kidnapping child of Apollo who could heal. I heard the yelp of surprise from Annabeth, then chaos erupted from the crowd.

Someone' voice, seemingly distant, told me to stay awake.

My eyelids grew heavy. My world grew silent. I couldn't see camp anymore, I couldn't feel anything/

I could, however, see the Styx again, the white haired red eyed ebony girl laughing at me from atop her wardrobe boat, arms open for a hug.

'Hero, you have been so strong. Why fight it?' she spoke without moving her lips.

I shook my head. Then everything went black.

ȣ

I woke up in the infirmary.

Annabeth and Grover were at my bedside, hands over their mouth as they watched me sit up.

"Oh my gods, Percy." Grover bayed softly. "You're alive! What do you remember."

It took me a moment, I was groggy, but I told them the story of what happened. I kept having to backtrack and add something I missed, making the world's worst story. Annabeth hung on every word, eyes an icy sheet of grey.

When I finished officially, there was a heavy silence.

"...I'll go tell Chiron about this, before I leave." Grover said.

I wrinkled my eyebrows together. "You're leaving? Found another demigod to bring to camp?"

He stood up a little straighter and shook his head. "No, I got accepted as a Seeker! I leave today."

Despite the bad situation we were in, I cracked a grin. "That's amazing! You'll find Pan, I know you will."

He smiles widely. "Thank you Percy, that means a lot."

"You should get going," Annabeth straightened the reed pipes around his neck. "I'll help Percy to his cabin."

Grover took one look at me.

"Go," I said. "Go find the great god."

He nodded, then trotted out of the infirmary. Annabeth helped me out of bed.

She seemed darker, sadder.

"You liked Luke, didn't you. Annabeth, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be," She interrupted me. "He was never the same after his quest. May the gods curse him."

We limped over to my cabin, Annabeth dragging me while I tried to walk. I failed, then decided to just let my feet drag.

When we got to my cabin, she set me down on my bed. Then she gave me a flask.

"You drink?" I was mildly surprised. "You don't strike me as a drinker."

"It's nectar, you idiot." She grumbled. "Drink it."

I unscrewed the top and took a swig. True to her words, it was liquid cookies. I downed the entire container and handed it back to her.

"How do you feel?"

"Like my insides were frozen, then put in the oven, then refrozen, then put in the microwave."

She blinked. "That's a… weird way of putting it. You were lucky, Percy. You were grey and green why we found you, it took the combined powers of the Apollo campers and Chiron to pull you from the dead."

I stayed silent for a little while. "How long was I…"

"Out? A day. We already signed you up for year round camp."

"So I'll stay here with you then?"

There was an awkward pause. "Actually…"

I smiled a little. "You're giving your dad another chance, aren't you?"

"I thought about that night, while we were going to Vegas… I thought about what you said, how you have to take matters into your own hands. I… I want to try to reconnect with my dad."

"That's good." I smiled. "I hope it goes well."

"I hope it does too." She smiled. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Me? Do something stupid?" I gasped in shock. "Why would you think something like that."

"You're such a Seaweed Brain."

"So you've finally decided to stop calling me Dove Boy?"

She elected to ignore that comment. She gave me a hug, then bid me goodbye. I watched her as she sprinted across the lawn, towards Thalia's tree.

I stood up, shaking a little. I looked at the time.

It was 12:30.

"You're really going to stay behind?" A voice said to my left. I turned and my green eyes met pink.

"How did you get in here?" I whispered.

"That doesn't matter," She waved off my question. "Are you staying at camp all year or are you going back to your mother?"

I thought for a moment. "I can't walk yet." I pointed out. "Annabeth signed me up, too."

"You can always un-sign up for it." My sister pointed out. "Your mother is well aware on how to take care of a demigod. She's been doing it longer than you've been alive."

I thought for a moment.

"I… Where do I un-sign up?"

"You just pack up and go. Someone will be waiting for you."

She stood up, then walked out of the cabin and disappeared around the corner. I took a deep breath, then started packing.

An hour later, I was hiking my way up Half Blood Hill, Drew helping me.

"I can't believe you're leaving camp after what happened." She said. "I mean, I thought I was going to lose you."

I smiled weakly. "Lose me? I can't leave, not yet. I have a feeling my journey is just beginning."

We got to the top of the hill to see a familiar face waiting for us. Fred was leaning against the side of his cab, his uniform replaced with a CHB tee and a pair of shorts.

"Drew Tanaka, meet our older brother, Fred Jaigg." They greeted each other politely. I turned to Fred, my mind set on one thing alone.

"I'm ready to go home."

ȣ

ȣ

 **The End**

ȣ

 **Son of Love, Book Two - Ship of Skulls:**

 **Coming Soon**


	28. Ship of Skulls sneak peak and a message

_My dream started out unlike the others._

 _My sister, who I hadn't seen or heard from since I was last at camp, was sitting at a beachside cafe, scowling at the turquoise waters. Her glass of iced coffee was no longer iced, the cubes had all melted and the untouched water was floating on top of the coffee._

 _"So close," she whispered. "So close yet so far."_

 _"What do you mean?" My feet were glued to the floor, leaving me no choice but to stay still._

 _Her pink eyes turned to me. "You should not be here, little brother." She sounded agitated._

 _"Where is here?" I shook my head, confused._

 _She waved her hand, her purple arm scarf fluttering in the motions. "That is of no concern of yours. Begone,"_

 _She flicked her hand and the old glass of coffee flew towards me and shattered against my chest._

 _The world went vertigo for a minute, leaving me sick to my stomach. Then, it cleared..._

* * *

 **An: For those of you who made it this far in my story, congratulations! You just read my first finished story! Up above is a teaser for the first chapter of SHIP OF SKULLS. Exciting, right? Well, don't worry about not having enough dite!Percy, because chapter one is already started! If you haven't already, you can click 'Follow Author' or just check in every week on my profile to see if I added the next book. I might wait a little bit before SoS is posted**

 **Thank you for just over 15,000 views and 82 followers. It is July 20th, 2017 when I looked at my legacy stats, and I have never been prouder. I have never finished a multiple chapter story before in my FF 'career', which is a little over 3 years. I have come so far. I have to thank everyone who has liked this story, because it has helped me continue on**

 **Hugs from the State of Georgia**

 **~seagurl3**


	29. Ship of Skulls is here!

_**Hey hey hey, whats up my fellow followers. Guess what?**_

 _ **Yep.**_

 _ **Chapter one of Ship of Skulls is out! Percy's got a whole new set of mistakes and ambitious events ahead of him. And it all starts with 'My sister killed me'**_

 _ **Go on and read it, if you dare.**_

 _ **This is also my last update for BoZ, so... heh... Yeah... I can't believe it. I have sent 3 plus years writing fanfiction, 4 plus years reading it, and I have finally completed a multiple chapter story. What a time to be online, amirite?**_

 _ **Okay okay, I'll let you go read the first chapter. If you have any questions, just pm me.**_

 _ **~seagurl3**_


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